Scott Redding to race for BMW in 2022
BMW Motorrad Motorsport announced that 28-year-old Briton Scott Redding will join Michael van der Mark (NED) on the Shaun Muir Racing team starting with the 2022 World Superbike season. Redding comes to BMW after a two-year contract with Ducati; in the pandemic-truncated 2020 season, he finished second in the overall WSBK standings behind repeat champion Jonathan Rea (GBR). 
Redding is currently third behind Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR).
Casting a bit of shade on Ducati after securing the new contract, Redding said, “I like it when people appreciate [I can make a difference as a rider], and it gets under my skin when they don’t, when they just expect it.”
Redding starting racing at top levels in 2008, and spend five seasons with MotoGP. He switched to British Superbike (BSB) for 2019, taking the championship that year. He moved to WorldSBK with the 2020 season and has done quite well, earning one pole and eight wins in his 22 podium finishes in 42 races in 2020-21. Redding currently has 216 points in the 2021 season, 50 points behind Rea, but with a comfortable 73-point lead over fourth place Alex Lowes (GBR)
Team principal Shaun Muir said, “We have been following Scott’s career for a number of years and are delighted that he will now become a part of our team. His successes speak for themselves and it is great that he will bring his skills and his experience to the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team in the future. With getting him on board, BMW Motorrad Motorsport once more underlines the huge importance of the WorldSBK project and the aim of establishing themselves at the very top.”
Marc Bongers, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director, added, “We are very pleased to welcome Scott to our WorldSBK family. In the last years, he has proven to make a great transition from GP through BSB into WorldSBK, to become one of the strongest riders in the field. We are therefore convinced that Scott, with his fighting spirit and absolute will to win, is the perfect new addition for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and another reinforcement for our entire WorldSBK project. A warm welcome to Scott, we are looking forward to a strong collaboration.”
It would not be beyond reason for BMW to add a third rider to the Shaun Muir team; though most teams run two riders, current senior rider Tom Sykes (GBR) has done well and expressed satisfaction with the M 1000 RR the team uses. BMW appears to have interest in continuing their relationship with Sykes. Sykes is currently in seventh place, with van der Mark slightly behind him in ninth in the overall WSBK standings.
