Ducati’s Scott Redding proved himself wrong in the opening WorldSBK race at Estoril by taking victory on Pirelli’s softest-compound SCX tyre.
Redding was never headed from the entry to turn one and had enough pace to keep Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and reigning champion Jonathan Rea at bay.
Previously, Redding had stated the taller, heavier riders in the WorldSBK pack could never make the SCX last but he put in a race run yesterday which disproved it.
Under constant attention from eventual second place rider Razgatlioglu, the main action up front was behind Redding, in the final battle between the Turkish rider and third place finisher Jonathan Rea.
Unable to pass the hard-braking Razgatlioglu after working his way up from fourth in the early laps, Rea had to take third on a day when it was his advantage for Superpole but Redding’s for the big points score. The top three were all covered by less than a second at the flag - on three different machines.
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba Ducati) was a tough competitor for Rea for a time, until he dropped back to finish fourth, while another potential top five rider, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), crashed out while moving up from his (penalised) tenth place starting position. He restarted but finished 19th.
Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven Ducati) was sixth, but 17 seconds back from Redding, with Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) two more seconds back in seventh place.
Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) placed eighth and Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Ducati). Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha by Brixx WorldSBK Team) completed the top ten places in race one.
