Blusens Aprilia team relishing chance to fight at front

Blusens Aprilia team relishing chance to fight at front



Thursday, 19 March 2009
This season sees Blusens Aprilia working with two factory-spec RSA machines and both Scott Redding and Esteve Rabat are full of enthusiasm ahead of what promises to be an exciting 125cc championship.


Blusens Aprilia Team Manager Ricard Jové has recruited Spanish youngster Esteve Rabat to ride alongside Scott Redding this year and the team’s preparations for the 2009 World Championship are going well.
After another successful preseason test at Estoril earlier this week the team move on to the forthcoming Jerez and Qatar dates in good spirits, with both of their riders quickly adapting well to their new Aprilia RSA machines.
Summarising the preseason to date Jové comments, “We listen to what the riders say and we can look at the timesheets, but we will only really know how competitive we are when we get to the first race at Qatar. Thanks to the good preseason conditions we have had we have been able to work hard to prepare for the start of the championship.”
He added, “The boys are amongst the group of riders pushing towards the top, although there are a couple of standout riders out in front who have set themselves apart so far this year. This is BQR’s first season with factory 125cc bikes and the riders and their technical teams are adjusting to them really well. Scott and Tito (Esteve) both have a real chance to fight at the front now.”
A Grand Prix winner at his home race in sensational style last year at Donington in his debut campaign, Scott Redding wants to push for more consistency in 2009 and states “I feel more and more comfortable every time I ride the RSA. We are working really hard to find a good set-up before the start of the season and it is getting close. We still aren't 100% sorted, but we are getting there.”
The English teenager continued, “What I really like about the bike is how powerful it is in the low revs, but what I’m finding hardest is to get a good setting with the chassis. At the last test in Estoril we started with quite a few problems but we worked our way through them and I think we will get to the Official Test at Jerez in good shape.”
Redding’s new colleague Rabat gave his thoughts on the preseason workload saying, “In recent practices we’ve been doing a lot of tests with our engine, with the chassis, the suspension and the wheels. Pretty much everything. I’m getting to know the bike better and better every time I ride it. I feel really at ease on the machine which is a big help. I am really motivated at the moment and that is such an important factor.”