Scott Redding admits that rumours of a third GP17 Ducati being made available for next season is a motivating factor for the remaining rounds of this year.

Speculation suggests that, in order to have as much data as possible, one of the Pramac riders - Danilo Petrucci or Redding - will get the same 2017 spec machine as factory Ducati riders Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso.

At present the Pramac bikes are one year behind the factory team.

"Honestly, I'm not sure what's going to happen. There's some rumours of this or that, but truth is, for us, we haven't really spoken about anything for the moment," Redding said. "Their main focus [at the factory] is Lorenzo, so I think we'll have to see how it pans out.

"[Because of the engine development freeze] you can't get anything new through the season, so if they want to decide something, they need to decide before the first race. And then there's time, money... So we'll see what happens. My hopes are on it, but it depends what comes out in the end.

"If I can prove myself more this year, maybe they will turn around and say, 'you know what? You deserve it, we can do this'. But we'll see."

"It would be nice!" Redding added. "Always to get closer to the factory guys, it gives you more chance. The frustrating thing about being in a satellite team is you're always waiting for mixed conditions to show your full potential. Or rain conditions.

"Because if it's fully dry, before you go on the track, you know you can't win. You can be competitive, but you can't win, unless some miracle happens. And I think that's a lot of the trouble that satellite riders are having at the moment.

"When it's fully dry, clear track conditions, it's impossible. When was the last time a satellite bike won in fully dry conditions?"

2006.

"There you go. That's a long time ago. That's nearly 10 years ago. So that's why it's hard. Because we go on that track knowing that the best we can do is a sixth or an eighth. We don't think, Oh, we can go on the podium. Rain, mixed conditions, you start to see the likes of me, Bradley, Jack, the other satellite riders, Petrucci, you see us up there.

"But when it's dry, when it's more clear, we know before we go out we ain't gonna win the race. So it's hard mentally to know that. Because as a racer, from my side, I come to win.

"Knowing when you go out there that you can't win before you start, that's quite difficult. But that's part of the ladder of stepping up to get the factory bike. Then when you do, you have to show what you've got."

The Englishman was clear about where the main difference is to the factory Ducati machines.

"They have a faster engine. That's what it comes down to. Maybe if we had the same engine as the factory we would probably be closer, but there would still be a gap."

Rider experience is also a factor.

"Lorenzo, Valentino, even Iannone now, Dovi, Marc, they do have more experience than me, which a lot of people forget. Because I'm still quite new to the game.

"But bikewise, it's a little bit more power, exit of the corner and driving onto the straight.

"At Brno, when we couldn't use the power on the wet greasy track, I was riding at 85-90% behind Iannone and I was really comfortable. Because he couldn't use that power [advantage]. I could use the same lines and it would work.

"But when it's dry, they have a little bit more pull out of the corner, or shifting from fifth to sixth and have a bit more. Then you have to try to recover it. And then you try to stress the tyres more.

"So over one lap, sometimes you can get closer. But over race distance, when you stress the tyres more, in the braking and in the corners, over 26 laps, your tyre drops earlier, maybe 4, 5 laps earlier.

"Also, because they have more power, they have a different style. They're braking from a higher speed, and you can't just brake later, because it's all about weight transfer. It's not like, OK, they have a faster engine, so brake later because you're slower.

"In Moto2 you could do that because you had the same engine. But when you don't, it's difficult. And that's the biggest difference."

Redding starts his home grand prix twelfth in the world championship, highlighted by a podium in the rain at Assen. He then got within one lap of returning to the rostrum in similar conditions next time in Germany.