Redding: I didn’t want to blow smoke up my ass about it, we’re too far way

‘I always said we’re too far away; I didn’t want to blow smoke up my ass about it’ - Scott Redding plays down BMW’s chances ahead of round two of the 2022 WorldSBK championship.

Robert Jones

21 Apr 2022

Redding, who had by far his worst weekend as a WorldSBK rider in Aragon, fears more problems will come at Assen despite knowing the issues his M 1000 RR has.

Scorer of just one point at Aragon, round one was truly a disaster for Redding, particularly as his former Aruba.it Ducati team showed extreme dominance during Sunday’s double-header in the hands of Alvaro Bautista.

Traction coming out corners was visibly holding, not just Redding, but all BMW riders back at the Spanish circuit. The even bigger problem for Redding, he was unable to ride around the issues before further gremlins with the engine and brakes were detected.

Heading into Friday’s on-track action Redding has stated he and the team know the issues, but that there’s no quick fix.

"We kind of know the issue but we’re kind of locked with what we can do in this situation at the moment," claimed the former MotoGP and BSB rider.

"For me, it’s more working on the electronics side of things, trying to help our problem. I think the track layout is what’s probably going to help us the most.

"Let’s see what we can do and see if this weekend brings us a step and see in the future. It’s not going to be a nice, clean improvement; it’s going to be rocky on the way. As long as we’re going forward, I’m happy with that."

Redding: 'I didn’t want to blow smoke up my ass', was the expectation too high following his move from Ducati?

While anyone who’s watched WorldSBK since 2019 knows that BMW have been playing catch-up to the top three of Yamaha, Ducati and Kawasaki, however, the gap in Aragon was a big surprise.

After taking their first win in eight years last season (Portimao), BMW were expected to be immediate top five, if not podium contenders, but pre-season testing showed a much different picture as did round one evidently.

But Redding has stated that he knew where BMW ranked and that being on top was always going to take time.

Redding addd: "I always said we were too far away; I didn’t want to blow smoke up my ass about it. We were just too far away, so coming into a race weekend, it isn’t going to be any better.

"I think we’ve just got to keep working in the line that we’re following and see if we can build up."

On the other side of the factory BMW garage will be Michael Van Der Mark, who has officially been cleared for action today.

Van Der Mark believes BMW have a ‘good bike, not a winning bike’ ahead of his WorldSBK return

After missing all of the team’s pre-season tests in 2022 due to injury, this weekend will mark the Dutchman’s first appearance on the second-year M 1000 RR.

While Van Der Mark has claimed the current BMW package is not a race winning machine, the 29 year-old has confirmed it remains a capable bike, therefore not one that should have been struggling to achieve points as we saw with Redding in Aragon.

"I’m really happy to be back in the paddock! It was already a very long winter, but unfortunately due to the injury, I made the winter even longer," said Van Der Mark.

Michael van der Mark, Indonesian WorldSBK

"Things are going well and I’m getting better every day. I’m really happy to be here at Assen. It would’ve been really disappointing to miss my home round.

"On the other hand, it’s my first time on the bike this year. It’s a nice place to be on the bike for sure.

"We have a good bike, but it’s not a winning bike. The only advice is to stay calm. We know what we have to develop.

"It’s tough, especially with such a close championship. A couple of tenths and we’ll gain a lot of places but it’s not easy to find these couple of tenths."