The first contact between the Aruba Ducati riders and the Navarra circuit went very well. Scott Redding finished the first day of free practice with a third time in the combination, which bodes well for the rest of the race weekend. His teammate Rinaldi suffered a little more, but the opportunity to improve in the afternoon (which none of the top rivals could) can also be a good sign for the young Italian.
After defining his future, which will be with BMW from 2022, Scott may have given Redding some security and at this point just needs to focus on the trackto fight for the title until the end of the season with the certainty of having a factory bike in the near future. In short, both Ducati and Scott seem to want to end this love story in the best possible way as it has been very satisfying for both of them.
“To be honest, I enjoyed it today” Redding explains. “I felt good and drove a lot of laps. It wasn’t really planned, but I had fun and thought I was going to fall by the wayside. Every time they signaled me to come back, I said to myself, ‘come on, take another round and that’s it‘. But then I ran out of gas. I felt good on the bike. The temperature change between morning and afternoon, i.e. that of the race, was important. I have to adapt my driving style a little to these conditions. I was able to relax a bit before this race and it’s a great way to tackle a race weekend. Then I like this track. It reminds me of a supermotard track, with a lot of skidding when entering corners, which you have to use often first. IIt’s not the kind of track I usually like, but on the other hand, I feel good here. “
How do you think you will position yourself in the competition?
“I think I have a good pace. I don’t think I have to revolutionize the bike. I saw that there are several holes on the course that we need to watch out for. That is perhaps the only negative aspect that also affects the set-up of the bike and that we still have to work on. “
Now that you’ve signed with BMW for 2022, will anything change for the present?
“My goal is to win. When the wheel works, all I think about is winning. IIf this is not possible I will try to get the best possible result. After Donington, I’ve changed my approach slightly and it seems to work well because I’m now having more fun on the bike. As always, I will do my best here and hope that it will be enough to stay ahead. “
Ruben Rinaldi’s day wasn’t bad either, as he finished seventh in the combination, which doesn’t quite live up to his potential. Indeed, Rinaldi was one of the few who could improve his relationship between morning and afternoon and proved that he could make significant progress.
“It was a difficult day,” Rinaldi admitted, “because I didn’t trust my bike this morning. Fortunately, the conditions this afternoon were very different. It was warmer and everyone struggled harder as we improved. So I’m very satisfied. “
Do you think you can fight for the podium here?
“We’re still missing something, but I know that if we keep working hard, we will continue to move forward. Third place in this round is not bad, we just have to improve the package in general. “