After the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visited the Circuito Estoril for the Estoril Round, Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) has been able to reflect on a strong weekend after claiming points in all three races. After a difficult start to the season, Redding secured a top-five finish at Assen before replacing that form at Estoril as he continues his adaptation to his new machine.

Redding started Saturday’s action by securing his best Tissot Superpole result of the season with fourth place to line up on the second row for Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race. In Race 1, Redding dropped to eighth place and he finished seventh in the Superpole Race to take a third row start for Sunday’s Race 2 as he continues adjusting to life on the BMW M 1000 RR.

In Race 2, Redding was unable to replicate a top-ten finish as he dropped down the order to 11^th place but still finished as the lead BMW rider, one place ahead of Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW). For the second round out of three in 2022, Redding was without regular teammate Michael van der Mark due to an injury for the Dutchman, but he was still able to score points in all three races for the first time this season despite losing the reference of his teammate with more experience on the BMW machine.

Reacting to the weekend as a whole, Redding said: “The race weekend here in Estoril was better for me in general. Starting with FP1, I managed to keep this pace throughout the weekend. We were just trying a few things after Race 1 with the bike but today the weather was a little bit hit and miss. We tried something, I wasn’t sure whether it was the conditions, the tyre or the settings. After Race 2, I realised the setting that we modified didn’t help me at all. I was really struggling to stop the bike in hard braking areas and didn’t really have much acceleration. A little bit of a shame because we were riding really well this weekend. We’re in a position still where we’re trying new things to make the next step and sometimes that will cost you a race.”

In the Superpole session and in all three races, Redding finished as the lead BMW rider, with the British rider gaining more and more experience on the M 1000 RR with each day that passes. After Race 2, Redding discussed the importance of being the lead BMW rider after joining the German manufacturer for 2022 season after two seasons with Ducati where he finished second and third in the Championship.

Redding explained: “In the situation I’m in, I always need to be the first BMW rider which, this weekend, I was able to do that. I felt good with the bike and that was important. For the race, I just need to go as hard as I can for as long as I can. In Race 1, we made the wrong front tyre choice and then we couldn’t really show our real potential in Race 2. This is where we are at the moment. We’ve got to take it when we can, keep riding as hard as we can and try to improve.”

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