SBK | Redding: “Bautista often in the middle of the standings, he behaves like a child”

Scott Redding and Alvaro Bautista are not on good terms. In the past, the two have already had some verbal exchanges. The latest next chapter of the duel between Redding and Bautista was opened during the recent WSBK weekend in Misano. In his intervention with the media, the world champion spoke clearly about what he thinks of the situation at BMW and did not put the British rider, who is trying to lead BMW to success from 2022, in a good light.

So far, however, the former Ducati rider has experienced more negative moments than positive ones, while Toprak Razgatlioglu has immediately harmonized with the BMW, has already won six races and is currently leading the championship.

“I expected Toprak to be fast on the BMW,” Bautista notes, adding: “When I rode behind BMWs in previous years, I realized that the bike had no fundamental problems. From the outside it looked like a good bike.”

“For me the problem was not the bike. The problem was the riders,” specified Bautista, who classified Razgatlioglu as a top rider, while considering the other BMW riders average: “The level of the other riders is not enough to be really fast.”

However, he defended Michael van der Mark. “He had a lot of injuries in a short period of time. He has good potential, but he has not been able to show it because of injuries,” Bautista said.

But he doesn’t have a good word to say about Redding instead, even though the Briton has already celebrated twelve victories in his WSBK career. “Scott came to Ducati when they were very far ahead. But in his second season with Ducati, he was already struggling more. There is a difference between riding a very good bike and a bike that you have to work on,” said Bautista, taking it out on Redding.

“If you compare Redding with Toprak, it becomes immediately clear that Toprak is by far the better rider,” says Bautista sharing his clear opinion and continues: “It concerns all areas, not just the actual riding. It also concerns the way you work and what you say off the track (laughs, ed.)”.

“Toprak is more focused as a rider. That’s important. The attitude is important. Redding is strong sometimes, but not so strong other times,” compares the Superbike World Champion.

Bautista’s statements leave Redding indifferent

We asked Redding to comment on Bautista’s comments. “Yes, I’ve been informed by some people. I don’t know what his problem is,” Redding explained to Motorsport.com.

“He’s been a mid-field rider a lot in his career. I don’t know, he obviously doesn’t like me because of this weight debate. But I don’t care,” Redding notes, adding: “He’s behaving like a child.”

Redding has clashed repeatedly with Bautista in recent years. “I don’t have to like all the riders I race against,” Redding clarifies, recalling the time when Bautista was struggling with Honda: “He didn’t say things like that when the tables had turned and he was racing with Honda and struggling.”

After a strange debut season in Superbike with Ducati and several early season wins, Bautista made a surprise move to Honda at the end of 2019. “He had the best bike and he changed. Now that the situation is different again, he is trying to take it out on others. It’s a bit childish and immature for a father and a grown man to make comments like that,” Redding said.

Redding would prefer Bautista to present his opinion in a direct exchange. “He always talks about me in the media because he knows that at the moment I am struggling to get good results,” said the Briton, annoyed by the behavior of his predecessor and successor at Ducati.

Scott Redding, Bonovo Action BMW

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Redding Strikes Back: “What’s His Excuse?”

When Redding joined Ducati in the 2020 season, he found the Panigale V4R to be a good bike, but not yet particularly balanced. What does the Briton have to say about the theory that Ducati was the best bike in the World Superbike Championship at the time?

“I would say it was a good bike, but I was also one of the heaviest riders in the race. The year before he couldn’t even stay on the bike. What’s his excuse? That he was so fast at the time that he could have ridden with two fingers up his nose,” Redding said.

In the 2020 season, Redding was the main challenger to world champion Jonathan Rea and kept the championship open until the season finale in Estoril. “I would say I did a good job. I spent two years fighting for the title against some of the best riders in the World Superbike championship. At the time he was in the midfield,” he concluded.