Departing factory Ducati WorldSBK star Scott Redding has taken a swipe at title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu after the Turk crashed on a piece of his own bodywork at Portimao yesterday.
The Yamaha man went down when his front mudguard came loose and slipped under the front wheel at the 140mpg final turn - causing Redding to quip that if would have stayed on had Razgatlioglu not hit people.
"As it happened, I was like, 'Something was not right with that;. He tipped in, then I saw something, then I saw the smoke, then I saw the crash. When normally, you see already the crash and then the smoke," said Redding, speaking at the track.
"I thought, ‘Okay, maybe he locked the front a little bit?’ But it was weird that things came off the bike before he really touched the ground. So, someone said to me maybe it was the front fender, or something. Maybe it’s from the amount of times he has hit people.
If I was the mechanic, I wouldn’t be taking the blame. I would be like, 'Mate, you keep hitting people, it’s going to come off at some point'. But, it is shit when that happens.”
Redding was also aware of Razgtlioglu’s green track limits ‘paint sweeping’ after Race One and then Rea’s burnout on the same corner when he won the final race on Sunday.
His take on it was unique, as he is the only rider near the other two on track most weekends and in the battle with them in the points.
“Just little mind games, I think. I don't know what to say, really. They’re going to go at it, and I’m going to be there when I’m there. I think mind games nowadays are quite a lot different because everyone is on the same elite level. But, we have to see. Yesterday’s races was between them two.
"Then today Jonathan went to the front, crashed, and now Toprak crashed. It’s going to be one of those championships. It’s going to go down to the end. I don't know Argentina. It’s a new track for me, but for them guys, I don't know who’s strong or whatever, but what I’ve noticed if one is not as strong as the other, he just attacks.
'He just attacks until he can’t attack anymore. So, it’s just going to be a fight until the end, which makes the championship really good.”