'I can beat them all on my bike' - Redding sends a warning to the World Superbike paddock
01/29/2025 09:07 AM
Scott Redding believes he can fight for the World Superbike Championship now he has returned to Ducati.
After three years with BMW across the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and the Bonovo Action BMW Team, Scott Redding has rejoined Ducati.
The British rider spent two years with Ducati in MotoGP, a single year with Ducati in British Superbikes and then two more seasons with them in World Superbikes. The 32-year-old will now return to the Italian manufacturer for the 2025 World Superbike campaign.
There have always been mixed opinions surrounding the British rider, but Redding is full of confidence ahead of his return to Ducati.
"I understand that many people underestimate me and believe that I will deliver the same results as last year," Redding said to Speedweek.com.
"But that will not be the case, I cannot allow that. There are also thousands who have a lot of faith in me. I have a vision and know what I want to achieve.
"I have one of the best teams in the paddock, with the best crew behind me, and I have this bike. I'm not looking for excuses, I can't say anything anymore - I have everything I want."
'I don't wake up in the morning to be tenth.'
Since Redding left Ducati they have won two World Superbike Championships with Alvaro Bautista. The Spaniard was a dominant force with the Ducati Panigale V4 R and was the standout rider for the manufacturer.
However, the 2024 season saw Bautista, Nicolo Bulega, Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci win races for the Italian manufacturer.
"When I was in the factory team back then, I also won a lot of races," Redding stated.
"But the riders on the other Ducati were not at the level of the three mentioned. You can see that whether a motorcycle wins races has to do with the quality of the riders. But the bike has also been developed over the years.
"When I came to Ducati, it was still relatively new, today they know every detail. I never had any doubt that the motorcycle wouldn't work with a taller rider. It was just that it had an advantage with smaller riders. That's why it annoyed me back then when they preferred Alvaro to me.
"They relied on speed on the straights. But if you take that away, then he has the results from the previous year. I think the motorcycle works better with a taller rider because you have to force it. A taller rider might find that easier than a smaller one.
"I was in tenth place recently, I haven't won a race in the last three years, I wasn't a contender for the podium, not even in the top five. That put me in the category of riders who are good but not the best.
"That's why I had to get my guys to believe in me, they had to understand why I race, to win. I don't wake up in the morning to be tenth. I showed them how I train and lose weight. Sometimes they probably thought I'd gone crazy. After Jerez they might think I'm not crazy and what I'm saying makes sense."
'Everyone else has to adapt to that, otherwise he'll win again.'
The big question about Redding's decision to return to Ducati is 'can he beat Toprak Razgatlioglu?'
"I think I can beat them all on my bike," Redding explained.
"If I wasn't convinced of that, I wouldn't bother with this. It's not impossible. I've analysed every race and I know where Toprak was strong.
"He's the champion and has advantages in certain areas. Everyone else has to adapt to that, otherwise he'll win again. But if we manage to do that, then we can win too."
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