(Motorsport-Total.com) – Former vice world champion Scott Redding experienced a bumpy start to the 2024 Superbike World Championship. After the first four events in Phillip Island, Barcelona, ​​Assen and Misano, the British Bonovo BMW driver is only in 18th position in the drivers’ standings. So far, Redding has collected a meager 23 points, while Toprak Razgatlioglu, his successor in the BMW factory team, has collected a whopping 179 points and has led the World Championship since the Misano weekend.

After the WSBK event in Misano, BMW confirmed that Bonovo will pull the plug at the end of the year (read the news). At the same time, Michael van der Mark was confirmed for 2025. Toprak Razgatlioglu, who recently flirted with a move to MotoGP (more background), is under contract with BMW until the end of 2025. Where will Redding end up?

Redding wants to stay with BMW in 2025. “I have a contract for the future. I am happy. Toprak’s victories motivate me. They show that the bike is capable of winning. There are no excuses,” the 31-year-old Briton commented in an interview with Motorsport-Total.com.

Redding would have loved to drive for Bonovo in 2025 as well. Redding likes the family atmosphere in the Bonovo team led by Michael Galinski. “I love the team, it’s like a family. Everyone gets along well with each other. In many teams you can see that there are two separate teams. But we are all one big team,” he enthuses.

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Redding gets along much better with teammate Garrett Gerloff than with Michael van der Mark in the factory team. “There is no tension,” says Redding. “I really like it. It makes the weekends more fun. Of course we want to beat each other. But we are also happy when the other one is successful and we can go out to dinner together in the evening.”

Why Scott Redding only scored five points in Misano

BMW celebrated three victories for Razgatlioglu at the last WSBK weekend in Misano. Redding, on the other hand, was only able to make a limited impact. In the Superpole, the Bonovo driver only finished 20th, making things more difficult for himself. P15 in race one and P12 in race two was a poor result.

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But unlike Razgatlioglu, Redding lacked the experience of testing. Was that the reason for the poor performance? “Sometimes I feel good during testing and then things don’t go well at all during the race weekend. That’s why I don’t want to blame the test,” he explains.

“I would say that we went the wrong way when it came to setting up the electronics,” reveals Redding. “Qualifying ruined my races. I couldn’t show my potential. But in the final race I felt good. I wasn’t constantly at the limit. I managed to overtake other drivers. It makes me feel positive.”

Are Toprak Razgatlioglu’s successes causing frustration?

Redding can draw on Razgatlioglu’s data when setting up the bike. “I study his data, of course, because he does incredible things. He doesn’t necessarily set up the bike differently, but I haven’t been able to do that yet,” admits Redding, who remains optimistic: “You can see the bike’s potential. We just have to use it properly.”

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According to Redding, Razgatlioglu has a clear advantage: “I have a concrete idea about the bike. Toprak, on the other hand, came with a clear head and that certainly helps.”

Is Redding frustrated by his brand colleague’s success? “It motivates me more than it frustrates me,” he clarifies. “Of course I would like to be the one who wins the races. I invested a lot of time and effort in the BMW project. He came and reaped the glory. But that’s okay with me.”

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“I get a lot of hostility on social media, but I don’t care. I’m happy that the bike won. It shows that we have developed a good bike over the past few years,” said Redding, praising his contribution.

However, Redding is not happy that he is losing half a minute to Razgatlioglu. “We should all be able to be closer to the front if he achieves the kind of results he is,” notes the Bonovo rider, who is convinced that it is down to the set-up and not the bike.