Redding: I’m pushing, I’m pushing on my limit to win races

In what was without doubt the race of the weekend and possibly one of the best WorldSBK races of 2021, Scott Redding managed to get the better of Jonathan Rea, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Axel Bassani in race two at San Juan. 

After winning the first two races, albeit Razgatlioglu only beat Redding by half a tenth in the shortened Superpole race, the championship leader looked odds on favourite to finally complete a weekend clean-sweep. 

But like Rea, Redding seemed to have an advantage over Razgatlioglu in the opening two sectors as the Yamaha man struggled for rear grip, something we had not seen all weekend as track temperatures went up significantly. . 

Redding, Rea, Razgatlioglu and Bassani all exchanged positions several times early on, and although he was as far down as fourth on a couple of occasions, it was clear Redding was the man with the pace.

On lap eight, Redding powered his way through on fellow Ducati rider Bassani and six-time series champion Rea, before finally making an overtake stick on Razgatlioglu. 

After countless attempts were made just to be passed straight back, Redding finally got ahead around mid-race distance before putting a second between him and the Yamaha man. 

Following a race one crash, winning races was Redding's main priority as the championship looked unlikely. And although he won race two, the BMW-bound rider is now mathematically out of contention - 66 points back with only 62 available.

Speaking about his race, Redding alluded to using a much more aggressive strategy than in previous rounds: "I said if they wanted to see this side, I’d also ride aggressively. That’s what I did this weekend.

"I put my name on the map to not be the safety rider anymore because it doesn’t bring anything. If you can’t beat them, join them. 

"That’s what I did and managed to beat them as well. I can’t wait to watch the race back! I don’t remember anything that happened! It was like Bassani, Jonny, Toprak through and then me. 

"I didn’t even know what was going on! It looked really good from my point of view. 

"I got to the front and I was feeling Toprak on the inside for the move. I braked too late and gave it all back again. I’m pushing, I’m pushing on my limit to win races."