UK Round, weekend roundup
The seventh race weekend of the season brought FIM Superbike World Championship and Scott Redding’s MGM Bonovo Racing Team to the British rider’s home country to the Donington Park Circuit. In front of his home fans, Scott began this weekend with high motivation and ultimately finished seventh in the first two practice sessions on Friday in hot summer weather conditions.
The MGM Bonovo Racing rider struggled somewhat on Saturday, however, and could only secure 17th place on the grid in Superpole. In the first race, however, he managed to avoid a crash at the start and benefited from climbing from 17th on the grid to ninth place by the end of the first lap. From there, he fought his way up to eighth place on lap three and sixth on lap four. In the duel with compatriot Jonathan Rea for fifth place, the 32-year-old had to settle for sixth, but still managed to gain a sensational 11 positions from 17th on the grid.
Scott also worked his way forward lap by lap in Sunday’s Superpole Race. Starting from 16th place, he quickly moved close to the top 10 but was forced to retire early on lap eight due to technical problems while racing in 12th place. In the second main race, the local hero again started from 16th place and moved further and further forward lap by lap. At the halfway point, he was in 14th, gained another position on lap 14, and two laps later worked his way up to 12th place, which he defended until the finish line.
Thanks to his strong points haul, Scott gained one place in the overall standings and climbed from 13th to 12th with 76 points. In less than two weeks, the WorldSBK will enter round eight of the season which will be held at the new Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary.
#45 Scott REDDING
MGM Bonovo Racing, Ducati Panigale V4R
Grid position 17 / Race 1: P6 / Grid position 16 / Superpole Race: NC / Grid position 16 / Race 2: P12«Friday was not so bad. I quite felt good with the bike. On Saturday I struggled a lot with the Qualifyer tyre and in Superpole I had a lot of chatter with the front, so I couldn’t really improve my lap time, it was very difficult. But then obviously, the races were not so bad. Sunday was quite good. I was a bit unsure about what tyres to use. In Superpole Race the pace was quite fast, everyone used more or less the same tyre but I couldn’t extract anything on the position to really move forward in the top nine. For the last race of the day, we were not sure which tyre to use. In the last moment, we went with the same option as yesterday, but again the pace of everyone in the main race was a bit faster than in yesterday’s race. So, I felt a bit more on the limit with my bike and I was trying to save the tyre more, which I did, and I came stronger at the end. But the gap was too big. Yesterday I got quite lucky with the start, today was more normal. I tried to work as best I could with the package, but it was good to race here in front of the home crowd. It was a great reception from all the fans here. Overall, the weekend was a bit better, but I still miss something to be closer to the front.»