Best of the rest
Road racing didn’t happen as we’d hoped but things are looking up
Redding’s clan genuinely believed they would beat Jonathan Rea this year. You’ve got to consistently perform to do that, which is why Redding literally broke down in tears when he crashed out of Aragon; that’s where it all unravelled in terms of a huge psychological twist. Magny-Cours was proof of how things could have been so different but, by then, Rea had pretty much bagged the title. Redding did an absolutely superlative job. Yes, he knew the V4 Ducati from BSB, but he didn’t know it with World Superbike electronics, plus he had some new circuits to learn. And of course there’s the tyres… not least that pesky X compound which lightweight Ducati man Rinaldi made work in longer races, but Redding surprisingly let it get to his head. The decision for Redding not to use that tyre in the Barcelona Sprint Race still beggars belief
‘Redding did an absolutely superlative job’
now; it was this crucial lack of World Superbike experience which let the title slip away. Nevertheless, even Rea’s gang were mightily impressed by the WSB rookie. Redding has proven since 2019 that learning circuits is not a problem. He’s extremely capable, his brainpower just as impressive as his body – both necessary for the mental and physical strength required to beat Rea over a season. Toprak will be close while Gerloff and Rinaldi could surprise but, if anybody does swing that pendulum in a different direction, surely Redding is the man most likely?
‘Losing the TT for two years is a bitter pill’
While MotoGP, WSB and BSB got racing underway in 2020 there was only a smattering of road racing action following the cancellation of the two biggest international events – the Isle of Man TT and the North West 200.
It was a mighty blow for race fans given that both events were shaping up for classic years with the two enjoying superb on-track rivalries and the escalation of record breaking speeds.
Race fans were delivered a further blow last month when it was confirmed that TT 2021 is also being scrubbed. The decision to cancel is directly attributed to the current Covid situation. Talks of delaying the race until later in the year to allow for vaccination roll-out were ultimately abandoned. While losing the TT for two consecutive years is a bitter pill, the enforced break has given organisers the time to come up with a range of wide-reaching changes and improvements for when the race resumes in 2022 (see page 58-59 of the main issue for an exclusive interview with TT supremo Paul Phillips). While there has been no confirmation on whether the NW200 will go ahead next year, the smart money is on there being a 2021 race but not in May. A move to later in the year now looks on the cards, the preferred date being August, although September has also been mooted. The inaugural Isle of Wight road race also hangs in the balance. Intended to run in October on the weekend after the final round of BSB at Brands Hatch, organisers are working hard to launch the event. But Covid brings uncertainty to the planning procedure meaning there is a realistic chance the debut running of the event may be postponed until early 2022.
In terms of the events that actually went ahead, there was a welcome return to racing at Scarborough with the Barry Sheene Memorial in August and the prestigious Gold Cup in September. TT legend John McGuinness made an appearance at the Gold Cup parading on his Bournemouth Kawasaki Superbike with the actual races being dominated by fellow TT winners Dean Harrison and Lee Johnston. Cookstown was another meeting that went ahead after the club elected to postpone their race from April rather than cancel. Top honours went to Derek Sheils and Adam McLean. Scarborough has four meetings planned in 2021 and the Southern 100 have confirmed their dates for July 12-15.