‘Upset’ at rain, an ‘unexpected’ win and a maiden podium: Ducati’s historic 1-2-3
Scott Redding claimed victory in a rain-affected race while Axel Bassani secured his maiden WorldSBK podium ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi
It was an unforgettable day of drama for Bologna-based manufacturer Ducati at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with their Ducati riders claiming podium places in Race 1 of the Hyundai N Catalunya Round as Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi finished first and third while Independent rider Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) claimed his maiden MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship podium with second place.
Redding started Race 1 from fifth place but dropped back in the early stages, running as low as 11th on the second lap of the race. The Briton soon battled his way back inside the top ten and found himself in podium contention in the latter stages of the race before taking ‘a lot of risk’ to secure victory in Barcelona and close the gap in the Championship to 53 points between himself in third and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at the top of the standings.
Looking back on his rollercoaster race, Redding said:: “It was one of those races I didn’t expect to win. I thought I was going to finish today a little bit upset because I didn’t make a step. Then it all just started turning around. I got more and more hungry as it went on. At the beginning of the race, off the start, I got big wheelspin as we crossed the start line and made me drop back. I had no grip in the beginning. In one moment, I said ‘you’ve got to do something. If you go down, you go down, but it is what it is’. I planned a little bit what I could do, and I had Michael as a target which was quite good for me. It kept me honest. I thought he was pulling and then I could pull back. In a couple of laps, I took a lot of risk to be honest. I was sliding everywhere; I was not stable at all. I was able to take corner speed because I had no choice, basically!”
Rinaldi had shown good pace in dry conditions on Friday in Barcelona but admitted to being ‘a little bit upset’ when rain started to fall before Race 1. The Italian rider was always inside the top six throughout the race and put in a late surge for a victory fight but had to settle for third place, behind teammate Redding and Bassani.
Discussing his race, Rinaldi said: “When it started raining before the race, I was a little bit upset. I knew my pace in the dry was really good, I could fight for the victory maybe. I was upset. Then, I changed my mind and said ‘okay, I will go for it. I don’t care if I crash, I just push as much as I can’. The beginning was not so easy to find the rhythm. When I started to push, I was not so confident with the front and I had a lot of spin. I found my rhythm again and I caught the first group. In the last laps, I wanted to make an attack on Axel to finish second because Scott in the last laps was faster.”
It was a momentous day for Bassani on his Independent Ducati Panigale V4 R machine as he claimed his first WorldSBK podium. Discussing this, he said: “I don’t have a lot of words but I’m happy! On the last lap, I started to cry. It was a fantastic lap. Michael was behind me and started to close the gap. It was an emotional lap. After the finish line, I started to enjoy it!”
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