Redding: 'You’ve got to take the good with the bad', podium the aim in Portimao

On a run of seven top five finishes in nine races heading into Catalunya, Redding and BMW suffered one of their WorldSBK worst rounds of the season after claiming just one top ten. 

Crashes in both feature races meant Redding picked up just two points from the weekend, his worst return since the season-opener at Aragon where he claimed one point.

After stunning performances at Donington Park, Most and Magny-Cours, Redding's difficult round in Barcelona saw him drop down to ninth in the WorldSBK standings. 

Redding, who is one of the biggest characters in Motorcycle racing, is part of a WorldSBK championship that’s become too friendly, according to former four-time series winner Carl Fogarty, do you agree? 

Discussing the latest round in Catalunya, Redding detailed the issues he was facing by saying: "Sunday was a little bit better than Saturday when I struggled a lot. We were fighting for sixth position but ended up eighth. 

"Then in the main race in the afternoon, we had to go for the harder option front tyre which I also crashed on [Saturday]. We put on that tyre again because of the temperatures and we think it was the right way to go. 

"Then I crashed again on the first lap. Overall, I’m OK, a little bit sore on the knee, so I will be fit for the next race, but I’m a little bit disappointed with our performance this weekend but you’ve got to take the bad with the good."

A challenger to the likes of championship leader Alvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea in Donington Park and Most, Redding is looking to rediscover that form at Portimao, a circuit BMW claimed their first win in eight years [2021].

Redding said: "For me, Portimao is a good circuit, very technical. I quite enjoy riding it because of the character, the up and down, the long corners, the slow corners, so I am very excited to go there. 

"Obviously, after a tough weekend at Barcelona, it would be nice to try to get back to where we were, but again it’s another new track for me with BMW, so I don’t know the potential. 

"I know BMW had a good result there last year in the rain-mixed conditions so let’s see what we can do. 

"It would be nice to get back to the top five, and if we are feeling really strong it would be nice to try and get a podium again or at least fight for it. I am looking forward to it."