Wet tyre choice ‘was my own fault, I suffered all weekend’ - Redding

Scott Redding rounds off difficult home WorldSBK weekend with P4 in race two; ‘it was the first time I had a little bit of feeling with my bike here at Donington Park.”

Robert Jones

05 Jul 2021

Scott Redding, Donington Park WorldSBK superpole race, 4 July 2021
© Gold and Goose

After losing valuable championship points earlier in the weekend, Aruba.it Ducati rider Scott Redding claimed a crucial fourth place during race two at WorldSBK Donington.

A crash in the opening race and wrong tyre choice for the 10 lap sprint event, resulted in Redding going into race two over 60 points down on Jonathan Rea.

That gap is now 66 thanks to Toprak Razgatlioglu’s race two win, however, Redding’s P4 remains an important one if he’s to have any chance of competing for what looks like an already unlikely title after just four rounds.

Redding didn’t help himself going into Sunday’s double race day as he was one of two riders to choose wet tyres instead of intermediates for the Superpole race.

"The sprint race was a bit of a disaster. Was my own fault because I chose the wrong tyre; chose the wrong tyres and there’s nothing you can do," he said. "You win some, you lose some.

"For the second race, it was the first time I had a little bit of feeling with my bike here at Donington Park. I suffered all weekend with an engine brake kind of feeling that wasn’t good and I couldn’t control my bike on entry.

"This morning we improve that a little bit which was quite good, but that was like ten laps of feeling like FP1 for me; like the first time I actually got a little bit of feeling."

Redding wasn’t the only Ducati rider to be left ‘frustrated’ as team-mate and double Misano race winner Michael Rinaldi could only score a best of eighth - race two.

Getting the most from a Panigale V4 R machine that’s lacked consistency so far this year has been tough going for Redding, who was trying to make things happen whether ‘the bike wanted to or not’, as he missed out on a podium by under a second.

Redding added: "I was a bit frustrated with the performance of all the weekend because it’s just been a hard weekend for me really. Not going forwards. I was just biting on the gum shield and just forcing my way through and trying to make it happen when the bike wanted to or not.

"I don’t think it’s a strong circuit for Ducati when you see the other guys on Ducatis struggling.

"I really just put everything into that last race and really wanted to get onto the podium. I tried right until the last lap, came close, but we didn’t get the cigare."