Toprak Razgatlioglu is making a difference in these early rounds of the World Superbike, especially against the other BMW riders, who are far from the performance achieved by the Turkish rider and his M 1000 RR. Toprak's superiority was well evident in Misano, where Alvaro Bautista also intervened on the issue, and he didn't spare several vitriolic remarks on Scott Redding's attitude and performance. Arguments that didn't leave the British rider completely indifferent, so he responded to the Ducati rider's provocations during a chat with out colleagues at Motorsport-Total.com.
"I don't know what his problem is. He's been a center-class rider for most of his career. I don't know. He obviously doesn't like me because of the weight debate, but I don't care. He acts like a child," Scott commented.
We all know that there's been bad blood between the two for some time, and the crusade over the weight limit that Scott has been championing in recent seasons - and which has led to ballasting Alvaro's Panigale V4R in 2024 - has only further soured tempers.
"He didn't say things like that when the situation was reversed and he was racing with Honda and struggling," Redding pointed out, recalling when the Spanish rider decided to leave Ducati after losing the 2019 title, to transfer to the Japanese manufacturer. "He had the best bike and changed. Now that the situation is different again, he tries to mock others. It's a bit childish and immature for a father and a grown man to make comments like that," the BMW rider continued, annoyed by his colleague's remarks. "He only ever talks about me with the media, because he knows I'm struggling to get good results at the moment."
It was Bautista's departure that opened the doors of the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team in 2020 to the 2019 BSB champion, the year he made his debut in the World Championship reserved for SBKs. A season during which Redding contend with Jonathan Rea for the title right up to the last round at Estoril, taking five wins and nine more podiums on the Ducati he inherited from Alvaro.
"I'd say it was a good bike but, on the other hand, I was also one of the heaviest riders on the grid. He, instead, couldn't even remain on the bike the year before. What was his excuse? He was so fast at the time that he could've raced with two fingers in his nose," the English rider remarked, counterattacking. " I did a good job. I fought two years for the title against some of the best riders in the World Superbike, while he was in the middle of the standings."