Scott Redding’s Saturday fall in WorldSBK race one at the Aragon #2 may have come in the same day that a Ducati privateer Michael Rinaldi won a spectacular maiden victory, but in the immediate championship fight, there was only one show in town that had greater importance.
The 30-point gap that Jonathan Rea opened up over Redding, even though the Kawasaki rider got beat by another Ducati on the way to second place. But it was, crucially for the balance of power at the very top of the table, not Redding’s Ducati.
Speaking after what was clearly a bitter disappointment Redding set his broad shoulders to the media mill and spoke with the forthrightness and honesty that made his an asset to WorldSBK from the second we knew he was coming for sure.
“It was a little bit out of my control,” said Redding about his race one experience and no score. “We struggled a lot last weekend and this weekend with the front tyre to make it work over race distance. We improved the bike but we struggled with the performance of the front tyre and that is what happened.
“For three laps before I crashed, turn one, five and ten, the last corner, I was holding everything with myself. The front was just going, going, going, going. I did not expect to crash in turn four.
I felt good all weekend so I was really surprised that happened but there was just nothing from the tyre. The tyre was pushing away. There is nothing I can do which is a bit shame. It is not ideal because I cannot make maximum performance with it.”
Seeing another Ducati win was if anything worse for Redding than just seeing Rea make more ground on him. “The most frustrating thing about it that when you see Rinaldi, it is like he is on a Sunday cruise with his friends.
“He is putting big time into everyone and the performance has been very good from him. I am very happy for him to win his first race, but we have the same manufacturer’s bike and I cannot come close. The complete opposite. It is really hindering me for the championship, which is not fair.
“From my side, I give everything, the team is giving, but it is just not working. I was in a position today thinking do I keep pushing and try to beat Jonathan? Or do I settle for fourth or fifth position. I want to win the championship so I don’t settle for that. Unfortunately I crashed and it is just frustrating.”
Redding was in tears in the garage when he got back, and as he said later in the day, “It doesn’t happen often. But I am so passionate and really believe I can win this title and I just fucking gave away points. I gave them away, like a fucking present.”
When asked about how he can recover the 30 point gap to Rea now, allowing for the fact that it is his first WorldSBK season, he cut that idea off at the knees, “I don’t care about that. I want to win the title.
“People keep saying. ‘This is your first season…’ I don’t give a fuck - I came to win. I have stated that. Now there is I think 11 races left, after Saturday, and there are points we can get. The problem I have is the person I am trying to get the points from. Very consistent, very smart. I have said already cannot give him points, cannot let him get away.
I need to apply pressure all the time. I gave him a little bit of breathing space, which is not ideal. So, do I say, well fuck the championship and go for each race? No, I do not want to do that. I need the team to give me a bike where I can win.
“If I can get the bike to win, and I can win every race, even from Magny Cours… If I can finish on the podium tomorrow, twice, and not give too many points to Jonathan – because we are in a tough situation, and I can win in Barcelona, Magny Cours and Estoril – I can still win the championship, without any issues.
“It will be what it will be. I do not want to give up the championship. It is 30 points, and that is a lot, but if I am going to give up I might as well stay at home.”
