It was as a spectator from the front row that the Ducati official was able to judge his two Turkish and English colleagues at Phillip Island, where he finished third three times, while the protégé of Kenan Sofuoglu won one race and the five-time World Champion another.
Redding was the fastest of the three, with his best Superpole time of 1'29.569, ahead of Rea in 1'29.598 and Razgatlioglu in 1'29.769. This same Redding left second in the general classification of Phillip Island with 39 points, ahead of Razgatlioglu with 34 and Rea with 32, behind Lowes with 51.
Would Rea have been at the top in MotoGP and would he have been really competitive there? " No, I do not think so. The World Superbike Championship and MotoGP are at different levels. There is a difference » explained the teammate of Chaz Davies in a podcast bt sports.
“It’s not just the pilots. It's very rare that a Superbike rider comes to MotoGP and does something special. I remember Cal (Crutchlow) and Ben Spies. But now it's getting harder and harder to reach the top," Redding commented.
“Toprak (Razgatlioglu) is quite impressive,” according to Redding, who expects the 23-year-old Turk to move to MotoGP sooner or later. " It's incredible. When you have a driver in front of you, you can always see what he can do best and what you can do best yourself. When I had him in front of me, I saw him turn with the bike sideways, the rear wheel flying off when he turned very late into the corner. I scratched my head afterwards! »
“Toprak is one of the drivers who could go far. He is very young and he is still developing” said Redding, who no longer sees Rea in MotoGP despite his success. “He is one of the best riders in the World Superbike Championship at the moment and he is riding the best bike. The whole thing is good and he knows what he has to do. »
“He is a great driver who has great potential. He had difficult years with Honda. There are runners who don't give up and then make their breakthrough. Johnny is one of these pilots. He was riding this Honda which was a very bad bike. He didn't give up. When he jumped on the Kawasaki, the competition had no chance..."
“Johnny's strength is that he is very intelligent and he acts intelligently. He doesn't crumble under pressure. It's an advantage. Every driver has a weakness. You just have to find it. At Phillip Island I saw how he controls the race. »
Photos © Ducati, Pirelli, Yamaha, Kawasaki
