Is third time the charm? After landing on BMW machinery back in late 2021 and following two seasons of mixed progress, Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) will certainly be hoping that saying rings true, as we approach the start of the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.
The 31-year-old moves to the Bonovo Action BMW squad this season after two years under the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team banner. Different faces, same machinery, with BMW providing factory support to all four riders contracted for the 2024 season. But that one small change could make a world of difference.
“The team is great”, Redding is quick to point out, minutes after the official launch of both BMW teams in Berlin. “Very welcoming, very family orientated. It feels old-school style, and that’s something that I really cherish, I enjoy having that around me. I’ll be more relaxed, more happy”.
TWO STEPS FORWARD: “We need to try and make up for the last years”
That positive first encounter is already helping Redding to put a frustrating 2023 season behind him. From an uneven first year on the M 1000 RR which nonetheless saw the English rider finish on the podium at three separate racetracks, to just two top-five finishes in all last year – an uncharacteristic drop in results which Redding himself wants to amend for.
“It’s pretty bad. There’s only been like two years in my career that I didn’t get a podium. It upset me a lot last year, to not achieve that goal, but it happens. We were working, we were developing the bike, we were doing the best we could. I think this year we need to try and double up on it, to make up for the last years. With a few of the rule changes and the development we’ve done here, there is potential”.
Redding is confident that those regulation tweaks, including new rider weight-limit rules and a reduction of the fuel tank size (from 24 litres to 21), could help to push results in the right direction. But he is equally clear on some of the improvements that also need to be applied on the M 1000 RR package.
“It’s just many little things, there’s not like one big thing. Okay, we miss rear edge grip, we know it’s clear, it’s something we’re always working on. If we can improve that, it’s already a good step. But then it’s finetuning: electronics, position, suspension… There’s a lot of things that we just need to get perfect, and then we can be more competitive”.
TARGETS: Redding and Galinski agree on top-5 potential
With these small adjustments and the extra involvement from BMW in the months preceding the 2024 season, Redding is optimistic regarding their targets for the new season: “I would like to be top five, top six in the championship, and I’d like to be on the podium more regularly. If I get a race win, I’ll be ecstatic, but we need a couple of podiums, that’s the goal”.
Team Principal Michael Galinski, also speaking at the event, agrees on this goal for the 12-time WorldSBK race winner: “I hope that with the more familiar team that we have, he can show his potential, what everybody knows he has. We want to go with him in the top five. I know the championship is very strong now, with some new riders. Top five is what we can do with him, and he’s dreaming of a lot of podiums”.
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Source: WorldSBK.com