Scott Redding’s podium in the opening race of 2019 turned out to be the only highlight for Be Wiser Ducati as they endured a tough weekend at Silverstone.
Redding crashed out of race two after being clipped by Andrew Irwin and looked to be in some discomfort in the immediate aftermath. Meanwhile, Josh Brookes suffered from three mechanical failures across the weekend and leaves Silverstone with no points.
The only positive of the weekend for the team came when Redding took third spot in his first-ever BSB race. Redding had spent most of the race in fourth, however he would take advantage of the last lap clash between McAMS Yamaha team-mates, Tarran Mackenzie and Jason O’Halloran, with the former crashing out of the race.
Redding was involved in a multi-rider battle in the second race when he came together with Irwin and crashed out. Speaking after the second race, Redding thanked the fans for their support:
“I was obviously happy to take the podium in the first race, but it wasn’t a deserved one as the three riders in front of me had more pace. To be honest, I didn’t expect the pace to be so quick at the beginning, but I hung in as best I could. It was disappointing to be taken down in race two and I’m very sore, but I should be OK for Oulton Park.
“Despite that, what a fantastic reception I got from the BSB race fans, it was quite emotional so thanks to them all for that. We now have a test at Oulton and need to work on a few issues and hopefully see some improved results at the next round.”
On the other side of the garage, Brookes’ bad luck would begin in Qualifying 1. Smoke and oil suddenly began to pour from his V4 Ducati and his day came to a premature end. He had put a time in to qualify for Qualifying 2, however he would start the opening race from 18th.
A bright start saw Brookes fight his way up to eighth, and into a three-way fight for sixth. However, he would encounter more mechanical problems and was forced to pull off the circuit. Brookes again fought his way up the order and into seventh spot in race two, only for his engine to again suffer from an internal problem.
Looking to forget about the opening round of the year, a disappointed Brookes said:
“There’s not a lot I can say about today other than it’s obviously disappointing to come away with no points, but I wasn’t alone as Jason O’Halloran was another rider to have strong rides only to come away with two DNFs. That’s the nature of racing and you can have as many good weekends as bad ones so it’s a shame for the whole team that we didn’t finish either race.
“I think we showed the pace we have when everything’s going well, and we’re all motivated to do well as we know what potential we have but sometimes things happen that are out of our control. We’ve shown that we’re competitive against the other teams and know there’s plenty more to come so we’ll just forget about this weekend and look ahead to the next one.”.
Round two of the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike season takes place at Oulton Park on 4-6 May 2019.
