Scott Redding had a disappointing start to the WSBK season to the point that after the Donington meeting, the Englishman on the Ducati seemed to have compromised everything. On this occasion, only 13 of the 62 points put on the table had been taken and before the two new rounds on the calendar of Most and Navarra, the best driver in Panigale V4R was 81 points behind Jonathan Rea in a tight fight with Toprak Razgatlioglu. But arriving for the Magny-Cours round, Redding only has a deficit of 38 units and even if he now has a BMW contract in his pocket for 2022, he is not going to give up with his Ducati…
We found our Scott Redding ! And for this weekend in WSBK in Magny-Cours, the Englishman arrives with high morale forged by the good results of these last two performances. Redding has achieved three victories and three second places in the last six races at Most and Navarra. He is back in a title race where the duel between Sale on the Kawasaki and Razgatlioglu on Yamaha is so raging that it may be possible to get the chestnuts out of the fire.
But, above all, Redding got back in the direction of travel with a rediscovered basic mentality which is his strength. He comments: “ I said to myself: too bad. I don't stress anymore, I take things as they come. That's why I'm quite relaxed at the moment. Every driver has a certain routine before races. Sometimes I sleep, sometimes I listen to music. I try to take advantage of it. I want to have fun without stressing out. Sometimes we can be so focused on something that every little thing that doesn't go the way we want it to seems like a big deal. But the reality is that it's about the little things. So now I keep telling my guys to leave the bike so I can find my rhythm. I know I have the rhythm ».
Redding: “ I'm old school«
The Englishman has only ridden once at Magny-Cours, finishing fifth, fourth and first last year. The weather forecast for this weekend is mainly summer, but a brief light rain is not excluded. “ We have the bike in a good tuning window ", said Redding. " As I understand how to ride the bike, we don't change much anymore. At the start of the year we wanted too much, we lost our way and we went back. Now I'm happy with the way I feel and I hope it continues ».
« At Magny-Cours, I can win or finish fifth. I always give the best of myself » specifies the groom. " Consistency is key. What's difficult in this championship is that Jonathan is so consistent. If I win, it's incredible, it's the best thing ever. If I don't do it, then I don't do it. I don't stress about it. There are still more than 300 points to be won, the upcoming tracks are very different. That's why there are always opportunities. Every time I win a race against Johnny, I earn five points. If I win the Superpole race, that’s three points. I just have to finish ahead of my rivals. Afterwards, they put themselves under pressure and I have a lot of fun. When I was doing BSB, I didn't think too much about the races, that suits me. I'm old school ". "
For the rest of the championship, Redding announces the color: “ I want to win the world championship for Ducati this year, that's the only thing I want ", underlined the 28-year-old pilot during an interview with speedweek. " They do their best, I do my best. In Navarre we showed that we could win. Our bike is the same as at Donington Park ". But the mind is different.
