After finishing fourteenth in Aragon and sixteenth in Japan, Scott Redding was looking for a result in Australia. And he got it by finishing eleventh ahead of Pedrosa and Dovizioso. He is therefore happy, but at Ducati, he did not find many people to congratulate him. And for good reason. On the dashboard of his Desmosedici, it was clearly indicated that the GP17 factory driver should be left alone. A message that the one who will be an Aprilia official in 2018 has read well…
Message read, but act assumed. Scott Redding explain " : " At the start, when Dovi veered off, I passed him then he came up to me, he came next to me and I let him go. There, it was the end of the race, I caught up with him. What was I supposed to do? I had closed a big gap by picking things up little by little. I attacked and was fast in a final corner where I had never been comfortable. And I passed. I am happy. But I know other people aren't. But hey, sometimes I have the right to think about myself a little. I was also fighting against Pedrosa, I'm not going to sacrifice everything either ».
He specifies : " I had a message on the dashboard during the race telling me to let Dovi pass. I did it. But when you beat someone up for being stronger, what are you supposed to do? I also have to think about my career. If we had played for fifth place, with a significant difference in points, we could think about the question. But, frankly, for just one point? I'm definitely not going to lose any sleep over it. I regret nothing. I helped him at the start of the race, I did my part ».
When he was asked to Dovizioso if this excess of Redding had disappointed him, he clearly replied: “ No, he was running his errand. I no longer had any grip. I tried to close all the doors but I was so slow coming out of the last corner that he passed me ". So Dovi doesn't hold a grudge against anyone.
At Ducati, on the other hand… “ Normally, they come to see me at the end of the races. There, they ignored me. But I understand that you are disappointed when you have just seen a championship slip away from you. Dovizioso made a mistake in turn one of the second lap. It's not my fault ».
