Scott Redding doubled up on British Superbike Championship race wins at his beloved TT Circuit Assen, but the Hager PBM Racing Team title contender was denied the treble by defending champion Kyle Ryde in an incredible final race thriller.
Redding had been holding third after getting ahead of Ryan Vickers and was soon behind Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde as the pair diced for the lead earlier in the race. But the battle for the final victory of the weekend would go down to the line, with Redding into second on the final lap and making a characteristic last lap, final chicane move in a bid for victory.
Redding made his move on the brakes, but on the exit the Hager PBM Racing Team Ducati stepped out of line and then wheelied as the 2019 champion tried to regain the edge as the trio dragged to the chequered flag. Redding claimed third place as he completed a podium hat trick in the opening Showdown round as the title chase heads to Donington Park for the penultimate round.
Redding said: “Physically that was the easiest race for me, but mentally one of the hardest trying to overtake. It took me forever to try and get past Ryan. I don’t know why with this bike, I just struggle with exit grip out the corner, it’s hard to set up an overtake.
“I was thinking ‘just be patient, just be patient’, but I was getting a bit impatient! I just had to keep telling myself it was a long race, but through all the fast bits, it was so much easier being behind. I know when I was leading the other races; it’s hard to kind of get away so I was very comfy through there. I just had to try to make unconventional moves and try and do stuff that I wouldn’t really expect myself to do.
“Everyone was riding so good that it was so hard. Then when Brad and Kyle started battling, I was like ‘I need to look at this as a three-way battle and not a two-way battle’. I don’t know what happened, but I ended up second and I was like ‘right now I’ve got to go’.
“Kyle’s bike is really good at getting off the corners so it was hard for me to set up a pass without making it dangerous. Then the last lap I just thought ‘the championship is on the line, I have to win’. I had to try and go for it.
“At that point I thought the only place I could do it was into the last chicane, but I had a bit of a big slide out of the right coming back towards the stadium section and a gap was there. I thought ‘man, what are you going to do now?’
“I’m pretty good in that last left and I always have been. I just went very late on the brakes and fully committed to it. Kyle was protecting and was going wider and wider, and I thought ‘mate, I’m going to be on the curb at full lean angle, but I don’t have a choice’.
“I said to myself ‘when he brakes, I just have to brake after’ so that is what I did and that’s when I went sideways going in and I lost the front. I thought I’ve seen so many moves happen there and been in so many situations that I know how it’s going to pan out and most of the time it pans out how it panned out!
“I was so eager to get on the gas and I was telling myself ‘don’t do it, it’s always what happens” and at the same time I was just twisting the throttle! I had a bit of a slide then a wheelie, just thinking ‘get to the finish line’ and then I saw Brad fully lent over the other side.
“To be fair if you lose a race like that battling for a championship, I still can go home happy. I was annoyed because of the points, but I thought ‘you know what, we put on a spectacular show and that is what people tune into watch’. Now we just have to wait for Donington Park!”