Razgatlioglu ruffling Rea’s ‘feathers, he’s being put under pressure’ - Redding

Toprak Razgatlioglu’s double feature race wins at WorldSBK Donington have elevated him to the top of the championship for the first time in his career. 

It’s also the first time Jonathan Rea has conceded the championship lead this season. The Kawasaki rider had a 23 point lead heading into the final race of the weekend before a crash whilst leading created a 25 point swing. 

It was a mistake that Ducati rider and third in the championship Scott Redding, believes is due to the pressure being applied by the Yamaha man. 

Redding said: "From what I heard and what I could see, it looked like Jonathan made a mistake under a little bit of pressure from Toprak [Razgatlioglu].”

"We saw him make a mistake at Misano because he couldn’t get away with his own pace, couldn’t really win races, and it is the same here a little bit. 

"Now there’s someone else in the mix ruffling up Jonathan’s feathers, and I think that’s going to be hard for him to accept."

Regarding his own season and expected title challenge, Redding has lacked the consistency to battle with the likes of Rea and Razgatlioglu. 

Donington was another difficult round for the Ducati rider - without a podium in seven races - 66 points off the lead. 

But, Redding isn’t giving up due to how many points are on offer in WorldSBK compared to MotoGP: "The goal is always the Championship and here in WorldSBK, there’s many more points on offer in comparison to in MotoGP. 

"The points gap just looks big and it will be hard, but it isn’t impossible. What’s going to happen now? Maybe I’m not there, but I’m there to pick up the pieces in a worst-case scenario."