Redding: The issue was Danilo's brain
Scott Redding was forthright in his assessment of team-mate Danilo Petrucci's riding on the opening lap of the Aragon MotoGP race, which led to the latter taking down the Englishman.
With both placed on the edge of the top ten, Petrucci attempted a move at turn twelve, but missed the apex and pushed Redding off track. He later said issues with engine braking had caused the incident, something Redding was quick to dismiss.
The Italian was handed a ride-through penalty for the action, from which he could only recover to 17th, leaving both Pramac Ducati riders out of the points.
"The issue was his f**king brain," said Redding, adding he was just as frustrated at losing valuable dry-track experience as he was by Petrucci's move.
"I'm just disappointed really because with a team-mate, normally I would give ten percent margin more. But it wasn't the first time in the first lap. He already had me in turn seven when we were together. So I knew he was going to come strong. I held out a long time when I got to turn twelve, and when I got to the full angle, boom.
"I tried to come back, but when I started to go on the kerb there was no space because maybe Pol was pushing him - I don't know - there was a bike there. I went down on the kerb. OK, I'm pissed off that my own team-mate took me out. But OK, sometimes you can say it's racing. But it's also not the first time he's done it this year.
"It's more the fact that I lost the experience in these full races in dry conditions. I said a few races ago that I need to get these full races. I f**ked Silverstone. Misano was nothing, and again here was nothing. I haven't actually made any progress over the last three races.
"That really frustrated me and just the fact that again, riding round at the back, you're trying to stay motivated to keep going, but the handlebar's bent, the fairing's broken, you've got a bit of pain here and there... It's just not what I expected today."
This wasn't the first occasion Petrucci has come under fire for aggressive overtaking in 2016. He received a grid penalty for colliding with Eugene Laverty on the final lap of the Austrian Grand Prix, and Redding feels two penalties in five races paints its own picture.
"We've had some close racing a few times. It's not the first time he's taken someone out, or someone's complained about him overtaking. He seems to make his move very late, very deep, which is kind of unfair. When you saw Laverty in the Red Bull Ring it was completely impossible.
"It was the same s**t today. For me, racing should be close. You should have contact but taking someone down is more than contact.
"The bullshit about an engine braking problem, of course he's going to say that. He's not going to say, 'OK, I made a mistake.' If you had an engine brake problem then why didn't he take one step back? It's the first lap of the race. It's happened. We can't change it.
"Yeah, I'm pissed off. He got a penalty. But again that's two penalties in five races that he's had. That's saying something. It was a tough race for Ducati anyway, so riding around at the back doing f**k all was a waste of time to be honest."
The timing of the clash coincided with Redding and Petrucci confirming they are locked in an inter-team championship, with the winner receiving a factory GP17 the following year.
Redding stated such clashes had been discussed, and although unable to specify what, such situations would be taken into consideration.
"Sure, they will do something. Something I can't really say to you guys. But there are ways of them making it fair for situations like this. At the end of the day I'm just pissed off at him. The first thing, he didn't even come to apologise to me. Second of all we're team-mates. For the team it's a shit atmosphere.
"I've lost respect for him as a rider. I've always said he's a good guy - and he is a good guy - but sometimes he doesn't have a f**king brain. That's something that if we're racing again I won't give him that ten percent. If he wants to do it to me, I'll do it to him."
