After making a start to his 2020 rookie WorldSBK campaign in such fine style and leading the championship by almost a full race winafter only two rounds, the hyperreal hills and Portugese dales of the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve brought forth a reality check for Scott Redding.

Not just for a rider that the WorldSBK paddock and fans back home have taken a shine to almost immediately but also Ducati’s fast but still sometimes fickle Panigale V4R. Clearly a strong package in Australia and especially in Jerez, none of the Ducati riders in Portimao got it truly nailed on like they had in Jerez just a few days before. Event the Yamahas, independent and official versions, liked the circuit more than the Bolognese.

Bear that in mind when you consider Redding’s weekend in Portugal. It comprised a crash and then eighth in Superpole, then race results of a seventh, fifth and then a final second, partly due to a better starting position for the final race because of the weird grid reshuffles after the 10-lap Superpole race.

Remember that second place at the end of it all, even without seeing second place podium fixture Razgatlioglu, who had slid off and restarted to finish eighth. Second showed Redding’s fight and desire, but he was still well behind Rea at the flag.

He felt Sunday in general was, in a logic that makes sense maybe only to top riders like him with a drive most don’t understand, still not really better than raceday one.

“Today was not really better,” he said at the track. “The warm-up was pretty average, the sprint race was pretty average and we were struggling a lot. I know I can ride this track well but we never really put our finger on what was really the problem.

“Then we made a change for the morning warm-up and it was so-so. In the sprint race I was fast but I just had no grip compared with them on the exit. So we fixed the front, which was out biggest problem yesterday, and it set me up for second (row) of the grid.

“The starts have been good and Ducati has done a great job in improving the bike off the line and I have been strong in the beginning.”

Remember that final race second place…

“The third race, when we changed something to give me more grip, we saw that I was able to do something,” said Redding. “But I needed this already on Friday, unfortunately. To be struggling in seventh and fifth and then pull out a second position at the end of the weekend, it just shows that we do not give up as a team or a rider, and that is what is really important to me, having the team behind me; that they stay up so late to do their best.

In the end, if I am able to do it I will do it on the track for them to repay them. That was risky to get more points lost very easily for me in that race. Actually I think I did a great job. I held on to Johnny for quite a long time and then I started to risk a lot. I thought, with the confidence he has got in this track, today is not your day to win. So manage the best you can.”

Front grip issues were by that stage the main bike factors for Redding to deal with, as the potent mix of Michael van der Mark and his Pata Yamaha pushed him very hard in the final laps in a riding sense.

“I struggled a lot with the front,” said Redding. “Van der Mark was pushing me a lot but I kept gritting my teeth, kept digging in and making my lines. I did the best I could. That final race for me was harder than winning in Jerez.”

Despite losing his hard won advantage in points over one single weekend in Portugal, Redding had character enough to laugh when asked how tricky the tight left hairpin of turn five was in this race, where many riders came unstuck. It was also where he fell in Superpole.

“That corner is a pain in ass!” he said after three tough races. “I crashed in the qualifying there. I think I went wide more times than I did the correct line but in the final race I think I only went wide two, maybe three times, which was good for me.

“A very tricky corner. I think also the wind was pushing behind, so you down into it with more speed. I just tried to use my mind as best as I could to play as clever as I can and get maximum points that were possible today. That was a tough weekend, and we can only think positive.

“I said I could finish on the podium but the problem is that the bike is just not suiting this track and maybe my style, so well. As soon as we got a little bit of help from the bike, we were directly there. For next year we have some data and we know what to do. As long as we finish on a positive – and I think a podium here is great for us and the team - we have a great spirit going into Aragon next.”