On Track Off Road No. 189

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HOLDING ON FOR AN ANTI-HERO
Scott Redding’s march to the British Superbike title gathered
pace last weekend at Snetterton where the PBM Ducati man
took pole position and won both races at a circuit he had
never previously visited.
Many expected Scott and the Ducati
to go well at Snett, which is considered
a more European-style layout
with its fast, sweeping bends and a
couple of nice long straights for the
V4 to stretch its legs, but it is the
rider’s adaptability to the variety of
tracks the domestic series has to offer
that is really catching the eye.
There was certainly no doubting the
suitability of the bike to the Norfolk
course, with Josh Brookes and
Tommy Bridewell running up front
with Redding in the two races and
only a crash for the latter in race 1
preventing the Italian factory from
locking out the podium in both.
Bridewell and Brookes were on the
limit all weekend, pushed to it by
Redding but unable to muster sufficient
response beyond their not
inconsiderable talent. Brookes, as a
former BSB champion himself and a
consistently close rival to Byrne over
the years, has to be considered the
benchmark in 2019 and Redding is
currently proving to be the next level
up.
At Snetterton Redding clocked a
1’48.817 to top his first ever official
practice at the track and paint the
writing on the wall for the rest of
the weekend. This is the kind of
performance we should expect from
a rider with such pedigree. There
are levels in every sport, as much
as I think some people overlook the
fact in motorcycle racing. The right
opportunities and a bit of luck – not
to mention financial backing – at the
right time are crucial, of course, but
they don’t tell the whole story.
You can’t become the youngest ever
winner of a Grand Prix without a
huge amount of talent. You can’t
challenge for a Moto2 title without
ability. You can’t become the youngest
rider ever to reach 100 Grands
Prix starts and not have learnt
anything.
The move straight from MotoGP to
BSB has been done before, perhaps
most famously by Redding’s predecessor
as the dominant force in the
series Shane Byrne, who actually
endured the worst season of his
career when he jumped off the Team
KR/KTM V4 catastrophe in 2005
onto a Crescent Suzuki that proved
to be barely more competitive at
domestic level in 2006.
The GSX-R at the time has been described
by Niall Mackenzie, who was
employed by the team to try and
steady a rocking ship, as “not up to
winning” but it wasn’t just the bike
that Byrne struggled to deal with. In
MotoGP, the rider is usually considered
the focal point of every project,
their every need is pandered to. In
BSB they are told to sit on the bike
and ride it.
“Even the tyre man gets to make
a decision before the rider,” Byrne
told me.
If you don’t like it that way, somebody
else will happily take your ride.
Byrne considered retiring at the end
of that punishing season, but came
back to eventually win a second title