Scott Redding: ‘That one hurt inside, like a knife to a gunfight’

It was a major leap forward for a rider that couldn’t even break into the top ten at the opening round in Aragon three months ago.

But it still hurt to see the rostrum snatched away by Alex Lowes as tyre wear left Redding defenceless in the traction area.

“That was a shame, that was hurting me inside that one,” Redding said. “It's just a little bit annoying really, because we do all that work and then just giving it up at the end, because there's nothing you can do.

“I was trying everything - slower, faster, just slide it through the corner, brake later - but soon as you get to the pick-up area, you just lose time. When Alex came past me, I thought I’m going to try to battle with him. But it was like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

“So we tried. It was better, 11 seconds to the leaders instead of 20 plus.”

Redding’s performance has been boosted by new developments on offer for Donington, most notably a new swingarm from Kalex.

“For me it's better in almost every area,” he said. “With the tyre in the last five laps, we had the same with the old swingarm, so it’s a little bit the characteristic of the bike with the electronics.

“Our electronics are good, but they need a lot of behind the scenes work and sometimes in the race it's not quite right and you don't have the options to make it work.

“Especially here, you don't have time to play with all the buttons. It's quite difficult. And having to ride a bike that’s gripping, shaking and stuff like that.

“At the moment the [performance] window is quite small. And we need to make the window bigger so we can have a little bit more to play with.”

Nonetheless, the constant steps made since Aragon are promising.

“I don't care if it's half a tenth, or half a second, as long as we can keep progressing. That's the important thing, and that's what we've done,” Redding said. “From Aragon to now we have had a nice progressive curve and I want to continue that, because I won't stop until I get there.”

Redding: Great for Johnny to let me follow, I'm not a threat to him - yet

After qualifying in fourth place, with a little help from Rea, Redding once again lost ground at the start.

“I was frustrated off the start. My own fault and I thought ‘you’ve done it again, you idiot, you give it up again’ but then I was like ‘I need to get through, I need to get through’,” Redding explained.

“I was able to come through and I saw them [Rea and Bautista] battling [for second] and I was like, ‘you've got to go now. Hard, hard, hard’.

“Then when Alvaro crashed Johnny just had a little bit more pace and I thought ‘OK keep going, keep going’ but then when the tyre was dropping, there was nothing I could do.

“I think if I had a good start I would have been able to be with Jonathan and Alvaro, which is already a massive step. So tomorrow that's my target; I’ve got to get off the line.

“But I'm happy. The weekend has been pretty solid. In qualifying it was do or die! I need to be on them first two rows. And it was great for Johnny to let me follow, I'm not a threat to him in the race - well, not yet. I think for him it's better that I'm there than someone else is there.

“I was riding hard, but I'm getting something back for it now. In Aragon I felt like I was riding the same, but it just wasn't happening. I wasn't getting anything.

“Now I feel like I'm able to show what Scott Redding can do on the bike.”

Redding will have two more chances to score a home podium on Sunday.