Redding: Hard to beat a guy like Toprak, he’s riding fast, strong, confident

BMW-bound WorldSBK rider Scott Redding believes Toprak Razgatlioglu has been the class of the field in 2021, and that for Jonathan Rea, finishing second ‘is not what you need when you’ve got a guy consistently faster’.

Robert Jones

23 Oct 2021

Scott Redding and Toprak Razgatlioglu, Portuguese WorldSBK Race1, 2 October 2021 — Scott Redding and Toprak Razgatlioglu, Portuguese WorldSBK Race1, 2…
© Gold and Goose

Scott Redding believes on-track rival for much of the 2021 WorldSBK season, Toprak Razgatlioglu, has been a class above heading into next month’s season finale in Indoneisa.

The Yamaha rider holds a commanding 30 point lead over six-time world champion Jonathan Rea, while Redding is 66 away with only 62 left to play for.

Since round five at Assen, Redding and Razgatlioglu have been the standout riders and have both taken more wins than Rea.

But while Redding had edged his way back into title contention on several occasions - reduced an 80 point deficit to 40 at one stage - the consistency of Razgatlioglu, along with making no mistakes has put him in position to claim Yamaha’s first title since 2009.

Despite being angered by some of Razgatlioglu’s aggressiveness at times this year, Redding had nothing but praise for the Turkish rider following San Juan (round 12): "He’s riding really well; I can’t take anything away from him.

"With the pressure he’s got, he’s riding well; fast, strong, confident, no mistakes… it is hard to beat a guy like that.

"Jonathan [Rea] can’t afford to finish second… finishing second is not what you need to do when you’ve got a guy that’s consistently faster."

For years Yamaha had a solid bike, but one that needed further development - top speed and braking were the main issues.

However, with an improved top speed in 2021 which is on par with Kawasaki and just behind Ducati, toppled with Razgatlioglu being without question the best on the brakes, Redding believes Razgatlioglu has made up ‘a good percentage’ of the R1’s new strengths.

"They had a good bike, but it was just missing a bit of something and a bit of something in the rider," said Redding.

"I think Toprak [Razgatlioglu] made a good percentage, but they developed the bike around him, they fully believed in him, that made the other small percentage and now they have the full package.

"That’s why all of the other Yamahas have improved this year, but Toprak is a little bit more.

"Yamaha’s weak point was speed and braking; Toprak fixes the braking, Yamaha fixed the speed, the rest is going together."