Redding: Rea battle ‘one of the best I’ve had’ in WorldSBK
Scott Redding finished second in his final WorldSBK race for Ducati after battling for the win until the very last corner with Jonathan Rea.
Redding and Rea put on a brilliant duel which lasted the entirety of the shortened race two, a race that looked unlikely to happened after extreme rain came before it’s original start time.
However, once the race finally got going, Redding, Rea and new WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu battled hard for several laps.
The fight for victory then got reduced to two as Razgatlioglu was embroiled in a battle with former team-mate Michael Van Der Mark which saw them lose significant ground to Redding and Rea.
The Ducati and Kawasaki riders exchanged the lead several times including three times during the last lap.
And although Redding came out second best, the former MotoGP rider believes it’s one of his better battles since joining World Superbike.
Speaking after race two, a race he desperately wanted to see go ahead for the Indonesian fans, Redding added: "I was in the pit box, I was ready and I said I don’t want to not race. I said that I wanted to at least try because to finish the championship and with all the Indonesian fans waiting yesterday, I said we have to try.
"None of us had experience in the rain (in Mandalika) so I just committed to the first corner and see what happens; just to put on a show.
"Normally I would be a bit more cautious but not today, I just said f**k it, overtake, overtake, overtake because I wanted to make a show. I think Jonathan [Rea] was the same.
"When I was behind I felt faster, then I past him and it was like he felt faster, it was a bit strange.
"But I think because we were adapting (to the conditions) every lap. It was great to finish on a race like this. It's probably one of the best battles I’ve had. I can’t wait to watch the race back."
Redding started the weekend on a slightly slower note than main rivals in 2021 Razgatlioglu and Rea, but when asked if Ducati made significant progress as the weekend went on, Redding said ‘not really’ as he was fast throughout it despite the layout being an unfavourable circuit for the Italian manufacturer.
Instead, if it wasn’t for being held back by his electronics in this morning’s wet race two, which forced the Ducati rider to force the issue under braking, then a tenth win of the year for Ducati could have been possible.
"Not really. It was not the case because I was fast all the sessions. In the race I struggled more than the practice just because of the tyre wear on the front," added Redding.
"I felt quite good with the bike but it was just this type of track which is not the best for Ducati.
"It was okay but not the best and we lost quite a lot in some areas. In the rain we were free to do whatever, but it’s just that my electronics were holding me back quite a lot so I had to push a lot in the braking."
