It was a superb MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship debut for Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati). The British rookie claimed three podiums across the weekend and was 0.041s off victory in Race 1 at Phillip Island. Redding’s pace was competitive throughout Tissot Superpole and races, as he qualified in second place for Race 1.

Twice in two years Ducati have had a rookie finish on the podium in all three races following Alvaro Bautista’s triple success in 2019 and Redding followed similar form on his Ducati WorldSBK debut. It will give Redding and the team confidence going forward throughout 2020.

Speaking after the action-packed racing had concluded Down Under, Redding said: “Three podiums are a great start to the season, and it was three hard battles where we were close to the win in the first two. We just missed a little bit at the end due to Toprak having an engine failure [in Race 2]. It’s good to start the season like that, there was a lot of expectation for me to be at the sharp end. I think we showed we were there. The only thing is compared to Alvaro last year, I’m not as small or as light, so I don’t have the top speed advantage.

“I can’t even pass the Kawasakis so I am struggling because of my size a little bit, and I need to work a bit harder in the corners. Which is okay but at this track I was using too much of the tyre. It’s not the first time it’s happened in my career being big like this, but I look forward to moving on to the next races, I feel confident.”

Redding’s competitive pace from the start shows reigning Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) competition will be fierce in 2020. The leading group could barely be separated across the weekend and if Phillip Island action is an indicator of what is coming this season, 2020 will be a titanic battle.

You can watch more thrilling WorldSBK action throughout 2020 with the WorldSBK VideoPass!