After an assured and really significant WorldSBK win on an SCX tyre on Saturday Scott Redding looked in good shape for Sunday’s short Superpole race and long Race Two finale. It was not to be. Not quite, even though he was a podium front runner for pace all weekend.

Third in the sprint, behind his main championship rival Jonathan Rea, was not in Redding’s script, especially as Rea did not even use the SCX tyre to win. After Redding ran up front for most of Race Two, having Rea pass him on lap 15 saw Redding immediately re-pass, defend, then crash shortly after Rea went by once more.

It was simply a case of asking too much, trying too hard, which is one of the endearing traits that makes Redding a star rider, whatever the results. He said, about his crash and restart, “Even when I got back on, I had no foot peg on the left and a bent handlebar. I still took the 1’37.9, so I knew I had the pace to win today. My mistake, I threw it away.”

When asked if the SCX tyre was maybe not the best choice in the long Race Two, when Rea used an SC0 again, Redding said, “I had the SCX in the Superpole race, but the Kawasaki just has an immense amount of grip, even with the SC0. I think it’s clear to see that on the TV as well, the lines and the grip. I couldn’t really compete with that. Our strong point is not really sprint race. Ducati is more we need to manage and then fight at the end.

“But I was doing well. I just made a mistake. Couldn’t get back into second gear and I ran wide in the Superpole race and a few guys came through and I couldn’t really recover that gap. In the afternoon, I felt really good. I felt really comfortable. I had everything under control. Really just riding so well. I was really managing the tyre perfectly, just counting the laps off.

“Then I was having a bit of trouble with the front and I thought, “OK, I’ll just back it off a little bit, a couple of tenths.” Jonathan was closing. Jonathan passed. I thought, okay, let’s try to fight, and the tyre was not ready to push that early. I needed a few more laps to let the tyre come back to me.

“But I didn’t want to let Jonathan get too far ahead. I just lost the front. I’m really sorry to the team and I’m annoyed at myself because I really had it under control. It was for me to win that race this afternoon. Just made that mistake that I said I shouldn’t make this year. I should have been a bit more patient, but it’s difficult when you’re fighting with a six-time world champion. You’ve got to be on the ball. You’ve got to be ready.”

Rea appeared to have some extra pace, but Redding was iunsure how much in the final race. “I don’t know how much he was saving behind. I didn’t know his pace. Now I can say we see, but then it’s like, is he three tenths faster? Is he one tenth faster? Is he going to slow me up? I don’t know. I prefer not to give him that opportunity, and that has been our strategy is to hit the front early if we get a good start and manage it, and that was perfect.

I just went when I knew the tyre was not good. I knew I had to wait, but I saw that opportunity and I went for it and it cost me points. Too many points. At least I managed to get in the points after the crash.”

Redding, on his way to catch a flight but taking time to speak to the small media scrum in the post live TV room, made all his comments before he was relegated from 14th after he had remounted. He was docked racer time that meant he was finally classified 16th - for a jump start penalty that did not result in a double long lap like that suffered by Toprak Razgatlioglu, while the race was running.

Redding had no idea of stopping after his crash, despite the bike damage, to gain even one or two points that he was later to lose in the Jury Room. “I’m always going to come back. I had to try. I’m just pissed off with myself.”

Redding was in some way surprised not to have been pinged for his marginal but real false start, and said - again before it was publicised that he had been docked time to take away two points - “Yeah. I thought, that’s a tight one. For three laps I thought, I’m going to see it on the board. I’m going to see the 45. I saw a four and a five, but it was the other way around! (For rider 54, Razgatlioglu). I was like looking and I thought, no. So… careful.

“Next lap, so three laps I was not really focused on racing. I was focused on the board. But when we were on the start, the light was there and then the wind pushed the light back, pushed it into a bit of a shadow, but I wanted to go. Toprak wanted to go. From what I heard, a lot of other guys looked like they wanted to go. So it wasn’t a matter of a jump start. There was something going on. But I just was squeezing the brake.

“My clutch went and I was like, “I can’t!” So I squeezed the brake… and then I went. So I held on as much as I could. Happy not to get that long lap penalty, even though I would have probably ended up with more points at the end of it. But there we go. It’s racing.”

Having tested at Misano Redding is looking forward to going there to claw back points, as he now sits third overall, 38 points from Rea, and three - no longer just one - behind Razgatlioglu.

“I feel quite good at Misano. We’ve been there in the cold, so it’s completely different. The good thing is it’s a home circuit for the team and for Ducati. We’ll try and get the top step of the podium there, keep fighting. Just keep trying to win. That’s all we can do.”