Scott Redding on a lack of support: “The passport is just an excuse”

On 22 June 2008, they stood together on a Grand Prix podium for the first and only time: Scott Redding won the 125cc race at Donington Park as a 15-year-old; second place went to the future world champion Mike Di Meglio, and third to an even younger Spaniard named Marc Marquez. Eighteen years on, one has become a defining figure in MotoGP, whilst the other races in the British Superbike Championship. On the ‘Scruff Bags by HMY’ podcast, Redding was asked whether his nationality was to blame.

As always: “The money made the difference”

Redding does not deny this, but considers it a secondary issue. “It’s always been treated as a major issue, and of course it plays a part. But the biggest factor is the money and the support that Marc Marquez received and Scott Redding didn’t,” explained the now 33-year-old, setting out his view.

In 2008, Redding rode for Blusens-Aprilia, a mid-table team that didn’t have the best equipment at its disposal. During the same period, Marquez was with Repsol KTM and subsequently joined the factory team, later moving to Red Bull Ajo. “He always had the best equipment,” said Redding. “In Moto2, he had his own team with his own staff, and they all moved with him to MotoGP.”

Then there was the timing. The so-called ‘rookie rule’ required newcomers to spend two years in a satellite team before they were allowed to move to a factory team. “That rule was in place for two years. By the time Márquez arrived, it had been scrapped. Straight into Honda’s factory team,” said the Briton, explaining the rule change that was quickly discarded. “I’m not complaining about it, but those are the differences.”

2008: Scott Redding (mitte) vor Mike Di Meglio und Marc Marquez (rechts)

Foto: Gold & Goose

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Is nationality the deciding factor? “We use our passport as an excuse”

He becomes more forthright when it comes to the structures in his home country. “I don’t think a British passport explains everything. I think the passport is the name we give to the whole thing to excuse the fact that we aren’t doing more for our riders.” Clear criticism directed at politics and society.

His point: “Why doesn’t any major British company say: ‘We’ve got one of the best British riders in the world; he’s won a home Grand Prix; there’s a future in him; let’s put him on the factory bike!’ That doesn’t happen. Márquez had Repsol and Red Bull. You can’t compete with that.”

The result, he says, is a structural disadvantage that riding skill alone cannot compensate for. “In the end, you take what’s left, and yet people still expect miracles from you. That doesn’t work. I managed to cope with it for a while, but at some point it was over.”

Redding illustrates just how much the equipment factors in with an anecdote from his 2015 season with Honda at Marc VDS. After three races, Márquez and Dani Pedrosa were allowed to switch back to an earlier chassis, but Redding wasn’t; he had to finish the season on the flawed design. “Marc told me later that he’d felt sorry for me, because he knew exactly what I was struggling with.”

He has no regrets about the path he took. “The guys at the top will be sitting on their yachts when they’re 50, but they certainly won’t be at Cadwell Park.”