Most. Scott Redding (GBR) has followed up his third place in the Superpole race at Donington Park (GBR) by securing a podium finish with his BMW M 1000 RR in a main race. Redding was consistently involved at the front in race one at Most (CZE), giving BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team reason to celebrate by claiming third place after 22 laps. Redding underlined this strong performance by securing fourth place in race two on Sunday. Most hosted the sixth round of the FIM Superbike World Championship 2022 (WorldSBK).
The free practice sessions on Friday showed that Redding was producing the pace on the BMW M 1000 RR at Most as well. The British rider recorded the second-fastest time of the day. He finished seventh in a hotly-contested Superpole on Saturday morning, missing out on the top three by just one-tenth of a second.
The only way was up for Redding from this grid position. He played a key role in a thrilling battle between the leaders, holding on to second place for some time. He finally dropped back one place in the closing stage but finished third to secure his first podium of the season in a main race. In the Superpole race on Sunday morning, Redding fell back some way in the opening stage but battled back to finish eighth in the ten-lap sprint race. That was his starting position for race two and he was once again battling with the leading group. Redding was forced to take an emergency exit on lap six, which cost him some time and knocked him back into fifth position. He was, however, able to regain fourth spot and maintained that position to the finish line.
In the Bonovo action BMW Racing Team, Loris Baz (FRA) made a good start the weekend as he recorded the sixth-fastest time on Friday. He finished eleventh in the Superpole, in race one and in the Superpole race. However, he retired early from a top ten position in race two after taking a tumble on lap five. His team-mate Eugene Laverty (IRL) was still struggling with functional impairment in his injured right arm at Most. He started from 20th on the grid, finishing 19th in race one and 18th in the Superpole race. On Sunday afternoon, Laverty then decided that the risk to ride with the weakened arm would be too big and did not take part in race two.
Peter Hickman (GBR), replacing the injured Michael van der Mark (NED) for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team at Most, improved in each session. He finished 22nd in the first race after being pushed out in the opening laps and losing a substantial amount of time. He crossed the line in 19th place in the Superpole race and scored two points for finishing 14th in race two.
The WorldSBK is now taking a summer break for the next few weeks. The seventh race event of the season will take place from 9th to 11th September at Magny-Cours (FRA).
Quotes after the Most races.
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director: “Overall, that was really very positive weekend. It was a stable and solid weekend from FP1 to the end of race two. Of course, it was a shame that we were just one tenth of a second off in the Superpole yesterday. That would have got us third place on the grid. Naturally, we were hoping that our pace would help us finish higher up. However, Scott gave a superb performance to turn seventh on the grid into a podium, which was fantastic. In today’s Superpole race, we made a good start but unfortunately got caught up in the chaos and fell back a long way, but Scott delivered a virtuoso performance to put the bike in eighth place. The start of race two was clearly better. We had really stable racing pace. It wasn’t enough for the podium, but we are very pleased with the fourth place. There were also two points for Hicky. Unfortunately, Loris tumbled out of race two at the end of a good, solid weekend. I wish that Eugene gets well soon. Despite the minor issues, it was a positive weekend that confirmed the progress made at Donington – especially with the podium on Saturday. We now have a long summer break, but there is still plenty of work to do. More testing will take place. We are certainly looking forward to Magny-Cours.”
Scott Redding, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team (SP: 7 / R01: 3 / SP Race: 8 / R02: 4): “The weekend was really good. It’s good that we carry the progress from Donington. That was a big question mark and we did that here. It was great to get the first podium in a long race. This is important for me and the team. In the Superpole race, we made a small mistake with the tyre. We went with the Zero, but it was on the limit and the first corner was a disaster, but we did good to come back and for the last race this afternoon I felt good. I had a very good start. There were some connections with riders which made me lose the front group a little. The pace was not bad, but the first three guys had a bit more pace than me, but I’m happy with the progress and this is what I’m looking for the second part of this season.”
Loris Baz, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team (SP: 11 / R01: 11 / SP Race: 11 / R02: DNF): “Today wasn’t my best day for sure. I tried some different things to feel more comfortable in the places we lost time yesterday. I tried a different tyre option as well, but honestly, nothing made a big difference. We tried something with the electronics in race two and it made those places a little bit better, but it made one corner worse and therefore, I lost a lot in lap one and then I felt like yesterday more or less. The pace was similar and I just tried to push really hard on the brakes, which could have helped me to go faster. I tried to come back at Vierge, but I made a mistake. I’m just sorry for the team, because it was a big one. I’m glad to be ok, but the bike was not. Overall, it wasn’t our best weekend, I feel I just didn’t match really well and didn’t find the right flow on this track. Now we have the break, I’ll recover a bit and then try again at Magny-Cours.”
Eugene Laverty, Bonovo action BMW Racing Team (SP: 20 / R01: 19 / SP Race: 18 / R02: DNS): “It was again like Donington. My performance has been far below what I’m capable of and what the team deserves. I’ve been struggling a bit again with my arm, but together with Jan, the team’s physio, we made a big step on Friday afternoon. We found something, which allowed me to ride, but the stress of riding a Superbike made it worse and worse. After the Superpole race today, my arm was really not functioning correctly, so we had to make the difficult decision not to compete in the race as it was not safe. Now it’s time to fix this problem so I can return in good positions.”
Peter Hickman, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team (SP: 21 / R01: 22 / SP Race: 19 / R02: 14): “It was a tough learning curve right from the start, which I knew it would be, but we made progress every single time out, which is the biggest positive for me. Every single time, even in the last race, we had slightly faster race laps and were consistently faster as well, which is really good. I was chasing down Nozane, and I was looking to try again. Then I don’t know exactly what happened on the last lap but we ended up being gifted with a couple of places, which I didn’t even realize until I came in. My aim for the weekend was to learn as much as possible, help BMW as much as possible, and trying to score some points. We’ve managed to do that. The bike has been in one piece during the weekend, there were no mistakes from me or from the team. I’ve learned quite a lot and I’ll take a lot away from this weekend. Thank you to all at BMW who has given me the opportunity to be here. Hopefully, they feel like I’ve done a good job.”
