The 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship kicked off in style on Saturday at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit and one key talking point was Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing) racing on Ducati machinery for the first time since 2021. He was fighting for the podium places in the first half of the race, including battling with two-time WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) as a rivalry reignited during the season-opening Australian Round.

Bautista had been outspoken throughout preseason testing about returning to his 2022-2023 form, after going back to basics and reworking his setup from the ground up. He has steadily be improving in preseason and this most recent Race 1, Bautista has looked like he is returning to his famous form. One key feature of his Race 1 was its drawn-out duel with Bautista, where the pair traded overtakes.

“It wasn’t aggressive necessarily, but he tried for sure to be there to make his move because with the strong wind, big riders have more strength on the bike and they can move the bike a bit better. He raced very well because he started well and stayed there the whole time, when he was ahead of me was slower. I think he was fast because he had the reference but he battled very well.”

Redding’s first race back with Ducati machinery was a dream reunion for the English rider. Rising as high as P2 at points, he showed glimpses of his 2020 form, a campaign in which he finished as runner up in the Riders’ Championship. He narrowly missed out on P4 and winning Race 1’s Top Independent position, instead however he firmly claimed P5 0.562s ahead of fellow independent Ducati Andrea Iannone. (Team GoEleven) His most dramatic battle in Race 1 however was with Ducati Factory rider Alvaro Bautista.

“It was tasty that one, it was nice, being able to overtake people again, race in the way I was able to race and I was having a lot of fun.” said Redding “I was pushing a lot because in the moment they were a bit faster than me so I was trying to learn and adapt in the moment and when you make a step with the speed, there area a lot of things changing. Then Alvaro came under quite aggressive, and I took a breath and went racing again, it was nice, it was good clean racing.”

How will Redding and Bautista fare on Sunday? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass!