Ducati’s Scott Redding had to watch more WorldSBK championship-chasing points disappear from his grasp on Sunday at Catalunya and could not fight up front as all expected him to do.
The reigning BSB champion suffered a raft of problems, not least of which was a front brake issue, and admits that it’s going to take something odd to happen for him to win the 2020 title.
“We had a brake issue coming already after two or three laps in the final race and it was getting progressively worse. A lot of vibration through the lever and the front wheel. It was getting really bad, there was no stopping power there,” said Redding at the track.
“In the end, when they brought the bike back from the parc ferme area, they could not turn the wheel. I think the discs were twisting where there was so much temperature inside. On top of the bike not really working at its best for me, we were struggling a lot with the front brake as well. I had a tough afternoon.”
Even in the sprint race, Redding was in trouble, as he did not opt for the special X tyre, and used a regular SCO race tyre. He has not got on with the X from the start this season, cannot use it in longer races like some others – although really almost no-one in Catalunya could use the X for the 20-lap races.
“I tried to go with the SC0,” said Redding about the 10-lap sprint on Sunday morning. “I believed that we could have had more grip with that tyre than the SCX. I was just hoping the SCX was going to drop off a lot more.
“When I did a long run with it I had seven laps and it dropped of, but the boys on it in the Superpole race kept going. That was that. Nothing I could really do and it was my choice for the tyre. I just fucked it up really.”
With Rea off the podium in race two, and especially with his own team-mate Chaz Davies winning it on his ‘mirror-image’ factory bike, Redding was particularly cursed to miss a real opportunity to narrow Rea’s lead.
That is the thing, When he has a bad day I am supposed to take the most of that and win, not fucking finish behind him. So that hurt me a lot because I saw he was suffering and I tried to battle with him a little bit, slow him up even more and get him into my zone
“But halfway through the race, 12-13 laps, my brake problem was getting worse, I couldn’t stop and the rear tyre was dropping even more, there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t catch on entry, couldn’t catch on exit, so I was just sat circulating.
“When you saw the lap times at the end of the race I was doing 1’46s. That is too far at this moment and the tyre was dropping too fast. Which is quite weird because earlier in the season, like at Jerez, we had no issue with that.
“Now it has come in after ten or 12 laps we are struggling a lot. When Tom Sykes passed me on the last lap, in turn four the grip difference we had was not even comparable.”
Redding was honest about his title dream for this year, and if it was still alive for him after this latest disappointment. He replied, “Honestly, I said to you before the weekend, I need to win all three races. I did not do either of them. It was my chance.
There are still enough races left, with some issues, or some things can happen, to win the championship, but honestly I thought I still had one hand on that title but I think finishing this weekend, I don’t. I have to be real with myself.
“I tried the best I could and I still will to the end of the season, because you never know. It is a real shame because I really put my heart into getting title this year and it is going to take something odd for me to get it back.
“I will keep trying but we need to improve the bike to the end of this season and make it better for next year. We can still win titles in the future.”
