Scott Redding expanded on the issues affecting him in the opening laps of MotoGP races during the Monday test at Jerez, saying the Ducati GP16 is "such a fine line" to set up well.

The Englishman spent Monday morning sampling different suspension settings, electronics and braking mapping in a bid to aid his feel in the opening laps when the fuel load is heavy and riders attack from all angles.

Having finished eleventh on Sunday, Redding spoke of his frustration at losing time in the opening laps, when he had struggled to stop the bike in Jerez's numerous heavy braking zones.

"The morning was really good, really good grip," said 24-year old Redding, tenth fastest at Monday's test. "Conditions were quite good. The last hour, the wind started to pick up a lot. It cost the lap time quite a bit. It was similar to conditions yesterday in the race. It was good to have that.

"We've been trying to bit with suspension, to try and help me with grip. We tried something with braking, and electronics on the bottom for the exit because I just keep going sideways. I miss the drive and use up the tyre.

"We worked on engine brake mappings. We checked the data between me and Lorenzo. We've got a lot of engine brake but it's locking the rear wheel. It's trying to find the balance to see what works.

"This bike is such a fine line. Sometimes I get it. The last exit I did I braked half a metre later and went straight on. I cannot be absolutely perfect to the half metre at 250kph going into turn one. We're trying to make the bike a bit more consistent.

"When the wind picks up during the race, if you've got a tailwind, you don't need that extra. The winds going to do it for you. That's what I struggle with at the moment. On the exit, I can deal with it.

"But the braking thing, I lose so much time. I lost three seconds at turn one, then another one at turn six. It takes a lot of time to get it back. If I can hold them guys for the first half of the race, the second half I'm strong. It's working on that first part.



"The strange thing is for a qualifying lap I'm not bad. But in the race, when the temperatures are higher, the track has had Moto2 and Moto3 there is zero grip. I feel zero grip. Until the other guys' tyres drop, I'm waiting for them.

"In the race I couldn't keep [Karel] Abraham and them guys. But when their tyres dropped I began to catch them. For me it's the same, the same, the same. It's more related to track conditions, more the track. When it gets hot I just struggle a bit more at the minute."

Jorge Lorenzo has recently spoken of his need to use more of the rear brake to calm the Ducati down on corner entry. Has Redding been doing the same?

"The back brake thing, some tracks it works, some corners it works, some it doesn't. It's very corner to corner," he said. "If it gets a bit hotter it doesn't work so well. If it's a bit cooler, you can use it.

"The thing for me, if we don't rear grip, we don't have stopping and we don't have turning. As soon as we have rear grip it's a different bike. That's more or less the problem. With the rear brake, going into the corner, it sits the bike down.

"If you've got grip it'll slow the bike down. If you don't it sits it down and you're going wide. Sometimes I use too much and I lose the speed in the corner. It's trying to get the right combination for it to work.

"In Moto2 I used a lot of rear brake but it was costing me a lot so I learnt to do it without. It gives you a bit of reassurance without all the weight on the front tyre. I don't understand how it works.

"Now, with MotoGP it's so close. You hold the brake all the way into the corner, you scrub 1kph of corner speed and that's half a tenth. Do that in three corners and it's one and a half tenths. That's why you see those guys making a lap in the quali.

"It's four tenths faster than the others guys because they've just got it perfect on that lap. It is difficult. The Ducati is not the easiest bike to ride, the easiest bike to set-up. It's not bad but it's not easy. We have a lot of areas to work on."