After making some big strides at Donington last month, Scott Redding confirmed his form on the factory BMW M1000RR in Most, battling in the leading group in Race 1 and beating Jonathan Rea to take the last step. of the podium.
Race 2 was tough on Sunday, because a bad start in the Superpole Race relegated him to eighth position, but he finished the second heat in fourth place, as “best than the others” behind the usual top 3 formed by Toprak Razgatlioglu, Alvaro Bautista and Jonatahn Rea, in order.
In Most Redding he narrowly missed the points he got at Donington, but the Czech round marks a big difference from the first race weekend with the BMW held in Aragon last April, in which he scored just one point. The former MotoGP rider said his current performance is in line with what he imagined mid-season, but admitted he didn’t expect such a quick recovery after a poor start to the season.
“I doubted, for sure,” reveals Redding. “I doubted I could get to this point. As I told Donington, it was either about sinking or staying afloat and swimming. Either we just suffer or we roll up our sleeves and work to get a better package. We have taken this step forward and now I think we are where we should be. At the beginning of the year I said I would be happy to fight for a couple of podiums in the middle of the season, and at the end of the year to be more consistent. We are on track for this, we just need to make some small changes and I think we can fight with the others even more ”.
Scott Redding, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Redding’s shape at Donington was favored by the arrival of a new Kalex swingarm, also installed on Loris Baz’s satellite M1000RR. But the British driver reiterated that the new piece is only part of what allowed him to consistently fight for the top five, underlining the performance gap between him and Baz, who failed to make it into the top 10 at Most. .
“I think I got in tune with the bike, with the swingarm, with the set-up, with all of these things together,” said Redding. Now I have confidence, I know the bike can do it, I know I can do it. I feel in control, whereas before I felt on the edge, like I was about to crash all over the place, but I was still two seconds away. Now I feel the bike talking to me and I can respond and act, and I can ride however I want. Confidence is the most important thing, it gives you half a tenth in every corner. “
Redding will be back in action in a test in Barcelona during the summer break, before the Superbike World Championship restarts in September for Magny-Cours to kick off the second half of the season: “The big problem we had has been solved, so now we are trying to solve the smallest problems and we know where to look. It’s all about achieving the goal. I would like the bike to spin more, this is the main thing I will try to do. At least we know that we have to fix this area and if we can do it we will take a step forward to close the gap ”.
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