Last week’s two-day test at Misano marked Redding’s first outing for BMW of 2022, the Briton having had his first test appearances with the German manufacturer at Estoril and Jerez last December.
He posted his best lap of 1m34.406s on the second day of running Thursday to go sixth-fastest, around eight tenths off the pace established by his replacement at Ducati for this season, Alvaro Bautista.
- Bautista buoyed by near-lap record pace in Misano test
In an interview with the official WSBK website, Redding said he was “really impressed” with the work BMW had done to improve the M1000RR since his last outing on the bike.
Team boss Shaun Muir revealed that his outfit had “completely reconfigured the fuel tank [and] the subframe assembly”, as well as bringing along a “new chassis configuration with different flexibility” and revised electronics for its new star signing.
Summarising his Misano test, Redding said: “I’m feeling quite good with the bike. Last year with the first test on the bike it was quite difficult to understand, but to have a couple of months of no riding, it was easier to come back.
“The team have made a good job changing some parts to make me feel comfortable on the bike, so this is a very big improvement, but we also had to change a lot the setting on the bike, so these two days were very important.
“We made some positive steps. It was something I was looking for, when I have the bike in a position I can ride comfortably, and now we have to increase a bit more the speed and laptime.”
Pressed exactly on where the M1000RR needs to be honed further, Redding replied: “We made some big steps since last year, so now we have to look in other areas.
“Now I feel better with the electronics, we need to change it more to be faster. Chassis, feeling better, need to make it faster. That’s where we are. The new engine is good, I’m happy with the power.
“The first thing was making the bike how I wanted it to feel, so now we need to start developing and improve on these areas.”
Redding was BMW’s sole factory representative at Misano as teammate Michael van der Mark missed the test owing to a fractured leg.
- Injured van der Mark likely to miss WSBK season opener
Asked if he missed van der Mark’s experience of the M1000RR, Redding said that the Dutchman’s absence wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for him.
“It was not so bad because I could focus on myself and not get influenced by some things he was changing, I could focus on the direction I wanted to go on the bike,” said the Briton.
“But it would have been nice to have some reference and compare data, so there are positive and negatives.”