Redding bags triple podium
WSB rookie shows he belongs, with a brilliant weekend performance to finish first round second overall
Although a win still eluded him, Scott Redding delivered a strong maiden WSB weekend in Australia as he bagged solid championship points with a trio of third places. In doing so, the former MotoGP rider and reigning BSB champ was the only rider at Phillip Island to podium in all three races. Back where he feels he belongs fighting for a world championship, Redding is revelling in taking on riders who treat a 22-lap race as a carefully thought-out, calculated event, a far cry from the chaos of his first BSB outing at Silverstone when rivals seemed hellbent on taking the Gloucestershire man out. Comfortably ahead of Aruba teammate Chaz Davies, Redding left Round One second in the championship and 12 points behind Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes. “I am very happy indeed,” declared the Aruba Ducati rider. “Three podiums is a great start to the season. It was three hard battles, we were close to the win in the first two, but in the third missed a bit at the end due to Toprak having an engine problem in front. There was a lot of expectation to be at the sharp end and I think we showed we were there. The thing is, compared to Alvaro (Bautista) last year, I’m not as small and as light so don’t have that top speed advantage. I cannot pass the Kawasakis, so I’m struggling due to my size. It means I need to work harder in the corners, which is OK but on this track meant I was using too much tyre. It’s not the first time it’s happened in my career, being big like this.”
Although his height holds him back, one only needs to witness the 27-year-old’s demeanour to see Redding is confident of championship success.
“The team has had the first round, everyone is relaxed, they believe in me now and know I can be there – and I know they feel comfortable where I am and keep pushing, which is very important as there’s a long season ahead.” Perhaps Redding’s BSB experience was a massive help considering the amount of contact made between various bikes across the hotly-contested Australian event. “When you’re battling like this and hitting handlebars with each other, riding that close, it’s give or take with whoever,” he said. “My strategy was a little wrong. I was planning to overtake on the start/finish straight, especially when the Yamahas were there, but they overtook into the last corner and it left me no space to take the line I wanted. I was struggling a lot with my front tyre. I think, if I had better use with that, I could have got in front and held it to the finish. It’s not like we’re 10 seconds from the lead, we’re definitely fighting there. We were in contention all race and learned how aggressive these guys are. We like to battle and I hope the guys at home really enjoyed it. I want to thank everyone for all of the support they’ve given me.”
For 2020, Doha stages Round Two ahead of a big resurfacing job. “Qatar is a track I really enjoy. It’s nice and flowing and happens at night, so is relaxed. I’d like to try and win. We need to see what the bike is capable of. I know it’s not far away so, if we don’t have similar problems with the front tyre (and even if we do, we have time to fix it), I believe we can fight for podiums and even wins.”