Be WISER DUCATI rider Scott Redding moved into the lead of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship following round five of the series at Knockhill, with a victory and a runner-up place on the Scottish track.

Making his debut at the Fife circuit, the 26-year-old from Gloucestershire showed good pace during the free practice sessions before torrential rain delayed the Datatag Extreme Qualifying session.

Eventually, it got underway and saw the former MotoGP rider end up on row five alongside Aussie team-mate Josh Brookes aboard their respective Be Wiser Ducati Panigale V4 Rs.

With heavy rain again falling, the opening 30-lap race got underway with a damp but rapidly drying track from where both Redding and former BSB champ Brookes made good progress in the early stages.

While 36-year-old Brookes couldn’t climb any higher than eighth at the chequered flag, four-times GP winner Redding was soon challenging towards the front and eventually crossed the line behind debutante race-winner Danny Buchan to take second place.

With better grid positions for the day’s second race, whereby Redding started on pole position with Brookes on row two, the rain had given way to strong winds but, despite the conditions, Redding was soon involved in a battle with Buchan for the lead when his rival crashed out leaving Scott clear to take his fourth win of the season and with it, a four-point championship lead.

Brookes currently occupies third in the standings courtesy of his four wins so far this season, just 31 points behind team-mate Redding.

Redding’s victory was the eighth in the last nine races for Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team going into the halfway point of the season next month whereby Snetterton in Norfolk hosts round six of the series over the weekend of July 19/21.

Redding said: “I knew I had the pace in the dry and went quicker in morning warm-up than I had done all weekend and, for the first race, slick tyres were the only real option.

“It was difficult to overtake as the dry line was only about a metre wide and it was very slippery if you went off it, so I just tried to pick them off one by one.

“It was a great race and a great result having started so far back. Danny was quick in both the wet and dry so I didn’t necessarily want to lead the second race.

“When he came by me, I sat behind him, but we changed places a few times and when he went down, I picked up my pace again.”