"It's hard to see someone beating you on the same bike…" - Scott Redding
10/04/2024 18:28
Scott Redding is maintaining a positive attitude in the wake of a disappointing start to the 2024 WorldSBK season, one otherwise dominated by the race-winning success of new BMW stablemate Toprak Razgatlioglu.
The ex-MotoGP rider is now into his third season with the German manufacturer, albeit after switching to the sister Bonovo Action Racing outfit to make way for 2021 WorldSBK Champion Razgatlioglu at the factory-nominated ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK set-up.
In what has been a chastening start to the season for the Briton, Redding is yet to crack the top ten and has only scored twice across six races held in Australia and Spain. By contrast, Razgatlioglu scored two victories at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, BMW's first since Michael van der Mark's 2021 win in Portimao.
While Redding insists he doesn't begrudge the Turkish rider's success and joins BMW in celebrating its upturn in form, he concedes Razgatlioglu's results do strike a nerve within him.
"From the outside, Toprak's doing a phenomenal job by performing the way he is," Redding told the WorldSBK website.
"I have to congratulate Toprak because he did something that I thought would never happen: I could have bet my life that he wouldn't have won a race in Barcelona and he proved me wrong. I think there's a lot of people in the same boat as me and I think it's amazing!
"It's hard to see someone else beating you on the same bike but at the same time, you have to give respect where it's due and it gives me motivation too. There's good and bad but in the end, I'm actually happy for him. I can't take anything away!
Runner-up to Jonathan Rea in 2020, Redding has won 12 races since making his WorldSBK debut that same year.
However, each of his victories came with Ducati during his two-season stint with the Italian marque, whereas his trophy tally at BMW amounts to a pair of third place results, achieved at Donington Park and Most.
Despite this, Redding is determined to transform any perceived bitterness into motivation that will return him to the sharp end of the grid.
"As much as I am happy for him, it's hard to watch it happen as I feel like I should be the guy winning. That's the sport we're in: every rider on the grid feels they should win the race.
"I've been fighting a lot in the past years to make the package good and then I feel the package is good but I didn't get my time to shine. I'm not bitter about it. I want to beat everyone on the track, those on the same bike and my teammate, all the same.
"That's why it motivates me, as sometimes, you need to take a loss to find fire and move forwards. I work a little bit like that; I need to be hit about a little bit and get p****d off and then I'll start racing better!"
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