Scott impresses with fourth and fifth at Oulton Park
The Be Wiser Ducati team did extremely well at round two at Oulton Park this Bank Holiday weekend, with Scott Redding posting a fourth and fifth place finish, as well as Josh Brookes taking two wins.
Ex-MotoGP rider Scott qualified in seventh place on the grid on his Oulton Park debut and overcame a morning warm-up crash to line up on row three of the grid.
The sun came out for the opening race and both Scott and teammate Brookes got a great start to complete the opening lap with Josh in the lead and Scott up to fifth. As the race wore on, the duo found themselves locked in their own individual battles with Josh battling with fellow Ducati rider Tommy Bridewell for the lead and Scott doing similar with Peter Hickman for fifth.
There was never much in between each pairing but the end result was the same with Josh getting the better of Bridewell by 0.2s for a superb win, which was his and the team’s first of the season, along with the first in the UK for the new Be Wiser Ducati Panigale V4 R, with Scott doing the same to Hickman to take an equally impressive fifth.
The second race later in the afternoon saw Brookes start from the middle of the front row in second with Scott again in seventh and the duo completed the opening lap in first and sixth places respectively.
Scott rode brilliantly and after sitting in sixth place initially, he made his first move on lap six when he overhauled Jason O’Halloran at Old Hall Corner and at two thirds race distance he dived up the inside of Christian Iddon at Hizzy’s for fourth, a position he held all the way to the chequered flag.
After two rounds, four-times GP winner Scott lies in sixth in the overall standings on 40 points, going into round three at Donington Park over the weekend of May 24/26.
Scott Redding:
“It wasn’t the perfect weekend as I felt a podium was within reach, but I came into the Reddingweekend wanting two top six finishes, so I have to be pleased with fourth and fifth today. I learned a lot and I felt good particularly in the second race where I lapped as quick as I did in qualifying so that’s why I’m perhaps a bit frustrated as I had one hand on a podium position. At the same time, I understand the bike more, I understand the circuit more and both of those things can only benefit me as the season progresses and today has been good for my confidence. I’m taking it round by round but we’re building all the time.”