The Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round was a dramatic affair as round four of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship painted the latest picture in the title race. One rider who didn’t feature too strongly at the front however was Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), with the British rider struggling down field. Scrapping it out for points, it was far from an ideal weekend for the British rider, as attention turns to his future.

In what was a relatively difficult round, the BMW M1000 RR has never been a bike to challenge for a top five at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but Redding couldn’t have predicted the battle he’d face this weekend. A Superpole result that left him mired on the fifth row of the grid in 13^th was compounded further when he was given a three-place demotion for Race 1 for riding slowly on the racing line. However, the weekend that followed would be fruitless, as he didn’t score a single point in any race – the first time that has happened in his WorldSBK career. Retiring from both full races and just 12^th in the Tissot Superpole Race, it really was an uphill struggle from the start.

Speaking about Sunday, Redding did what he could to put himself in a good position, but tyre life was a major factor: “Basically I used too much tyre, but I’ve been struggling all weekend to be honest. In Race 2, I decided to push as hard as I could and see how long I could stay there. I stayed at the back of the train but I was pushing a lot and pushing the front. I didn’t have good speed in the race in the straight as I couldn’t get out the corners, so I was forcing the front and it started to slide a lot more. Then, the rear started to drop and it dropped so much that it became dangerous to ride. I was tipping in and even on entry without the throttle, the bike was sliding and I had no support. I did three or four laps and it was getting worse and worse; I was already outside the points and I just thought that it’s not worth the risk.”

With attention turning to his future, Redding said that he will be evaluating all offers: “I have to consider my options and see what’s available. I have to see what we can do for BMW in the future if I am to stay there. I want to be fighting at the front for podiums and winning races but last year and this year, it’s not showing anything in that direction. It’s hard for me to wait; I know the guys are working hard. There’s a lot happening back at BMW but finding a solution is proving difficult. We will see, but there aren’t a lot of other doors open so we need to keep our head down and try to improve the package. When you go testing, you might have an item and it changes everything, but at the moment, we have a lot of items but not a lot improvement. It’s part of the game.”

Watch 2023 unfold in style with the WorldSBK VideoPass!