Scott Redding had not expected such a difficult start to the season. Not only could he not keep up with Rea for one lap, he couldn’t even fight for the podium. Fourth place is just a disappointment and the Brit knows what caused it.
“To be honest, I had no hold“He said and threw up his arms. “For all I knew, the Kawasakis were supposed to be using the SCXs for the rear, but I saw on the grid that Johnny had the SC0s and it seemed like they had more grip. I did what I could. The tire slipped. I couldn’t stop the bike. I had no grip in the back and then I started fighting with the front too. I tried to increase my pace, to save what could be saved when the other riders also had a decline and reached my level. I kept fighting, but I tried to catch up with those who preceded me. But with two and a half laps to go, my tires were totally worn out. If there had been another round, I might have moved out. I actually ran out of tires and that had never happened to me with the Pirellis.”
Was the situation that critical?
“In the end it was like medium-sized tires. It is really strange. I did not have a stop when entering. If I leaned the bike against it without using the brakes, I would lose the rear end. It wasn’t fun, but I didn’t give up. The last chicane was usually my forte, but it became my weakness. The bike slipped a lot. Usually we manage to catch up to the others on the longest straight thanks to the power of the Ducati, but I couldn’t accelerate. “
Have you spoken to the Pirelli technicians?
“Yes, but what do you think we will get from them? I used the SC0s and it was done with three laps to go. I had no other option.”
Davies complained about Ducati’s lack of commitment to the SBK.
“I have a feeling that they are trying. You do a lot. Kawasaki only takes part in this championship. Ducati drives in MotoGP and SBK. We’re second and you can totally see that. But in the tests they have new material. Chaz has been here longer than me and I don’t know what happened, but they are working to improve the bike. I am happy, but a little confused, because the strengths of last year have turned into weaknesses. “
Could the MotoGP experience help in any way?
“There is communication for development. They work in the same direction and talk to each other, but the tires and brakes are very different and that makes a big difference. “
What do you expect for tomorrow
“We’ll see. If it gets cold we’ll change everything, while in the heat we have a package that can be competitive. I think we can do it. Yesterday things happened that I wasn’t expecting while I was Found my bike this morning, then before the race the temperature rose ten degrees and the problems started. You can’t make that big a difference to win a championship. I think we just have to sit down and figure out what to do to get things right.”
Audio recording by Riccardo Guglielmetti