'I've felt good all weekend' - Redding wins Navarra race one

Scott Redding became WorldSBK's first race winner at the Navarra circuit in Spain courtesy of a confident victory over Jonathan Rea in Saturday's opening encounter.

Qualifying second on the grid, the Englishman snatched the advantage from the Kawasaki pole sitter into Turn 1, only for Rea to swiftly retaliate.

But the reigning six-time world champion couldn't break clear and Redding - newly confirmed as leaving Ducati for BMW at the end of this season - looked increasingly threatening as he stalked the ZX-10 ahead.

Redding's winning overtake came in the form of a slipstream along the home straight on lap 6 of 23, some moments for Rea helping the #45 pull a safe 2.5s advantage by the chequered flag.

"I've felt good all weekend. Got an amazing start, which made things easier, then it was just ticking laps off," Redding said.

"I didn’t have to over-ride, which is also a big thing in these [hot] conditions.

"The bike was working well. Maybe there's a few small things we can improve but I don't want to lose anything either.

"The World Championship? I just want to keep thinking race-by-race… Let's continue like this."

Redding's fourth victory of the season moves him to within 45 points of Rea and 38 from Yamaha's Toprak Razgatlioglu, who completed the podium from eighth on the grid.

Further back, Ducati team-mate Michael Rinaldi finished in tenth place.

"It was a very tough race in which I didn't have the right feeling to be able to push," said the Italian.

"Unfortunately, since this morning we have encountered some difficulties that we have not been able to solve.

"The only thing we can do is continue to keep working being confident that we’ll find the right way to be competitive again".