Locatelli ‘always running into someone else, he was a pain in my arse’ - Redding

Rinaldi, who said Locatelli needed to use his ‘brain’ following a race one sighting lap where he nearly collected three riders including himself heading into turn one - also lunged into Rinaldi at turn two which forced the fifth-year WorldSBK rider to avoid crashing - has since been backed up by his former team-mate Scott Redding.

Redding was battling with the Pata Yamaha rider for much of the Superpole race, a fight that also included Motocorsa Ducati rider Axel Bassani. 

After making a poor start to the 10-lap race, Redding had to use his superior pace to carve his way back through the pack which meant coming across an ‘unsettling’ Locatelli.

Redding told WorldSBK.com: "I had to keep getting stuck in and chipping away to the guys in front because I needed to be in the top nine and then I managed to get Garrett [Gerloff] on the last lap in the final two corners. 

"I was only one position worse off, so it wasn’t terrible. It meant I didn’t have Locatelli coming across me at the start. It was a bit unsettling because I didn’t know where or how he was going to come. 

"He was always coming across, out-braking himself or running into someone else; he was a bit of a pain in my arse to be honest. 

• Defence from Razgatlioglu ‘compromised my line’, race two start ‘a mess’ - Rea

"Then, when he was in front of me in the last race, he opened doors for me, so it was a little bit better! I felt good, I got through well but the guys [ahead] just had a little bit more pace than me. 

"There was a moment where Bassani passed Rinaldi and Jonathan [Rea] went in the same move, and as Rinaldi rolled the throttle to turn, I hit the back of him and the group went; unfortunately, I don’t have the pace to recover that, 

"I’m on the limit to stay there. I’m happy with another fourth and be in a best of the rest situation."

Carrying Donington performance ‘was a big question mark’, says the 2020 WorldSBK runner-up

But it’s a test that Redding passed with flying colours, especially in race one as he proved to be every bit the match for Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea.

Although there were drops of rain during race one, the opening Most race could not be described as anything other than a dry race, making it the first time in a very long time that BMW were in contention based on pure performance. 

"It’s good that we carry the progress from Donington. That was a big question mark and we did that here," added Redding. 

"It was great to get the first podium in a long race. This is important for me and the team. In the Superpole Race, we made a small mistake with the tyre. We went with the zero, but it was on the limit. 

"And the first corner was a disaster. But we did good to come back and for the last race this afternoon I felt good. The pace was not bad. I’m happy with the progress and this is what I’m looking for in the second part of this season."