First Look: Scott Redding makes BMW debut with road bike in Valencia
Scott Redding has completed his first laps aboard a BMW M 1000 RR road bike as he prepares for the 2022 WorldSBK season.
After spending three seasons with Ducati - one in BSB and the last two in WorldSBK - Redding will join Michael Van Der Mark at BMW as he replaces the departing Tom Sykes.
Redding, who remains contracted to Ducati until the end of the year, posted pictures on social media of himself riding the M 1000 RR road bike, a machine he called ‘black widow’ during a private test in Valencia.
While Redding was unable to replicate his championship runners-up spot of 2020 this season, it was arguably his best year of the two as he became a consistent challenger to world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea.
From Assen onwards, Redding took the same number of wins and podium finishes as Rea, while the ex-MotoGP rider finished all but one race.
But despite a career year in WorldSBK for Redding, it’s unlikely he will be able to match his exploits of 2021 with BMW as the German manufacturer is still some ways behind the likes of Yamaha, Kawasaki and Ducati.
Van Der Mark did manage to clinch BMW’s first win during a wet Superpole race in Portimao which is a positive for Redding and the team (got the better of Redding coincidently), however, fighting for wins and even a championship is likely to come further down the line.
Since his opening test in Valencia, Redding has again been in action as he took part in his official debut with the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team during a test yesterday in Estoril.
