BOUNCEBACKABILITY · OFFICIAL PROGRAMME
BOUNCEBACKABILITY
The strange made-up word in the headline was coined in the arena of English football , by a manager praising his team for their ability to ‘ bounce back ’ from adversity . Almost every rider in WorldSBK has had a low point to recover from , and a few of them even came close to quitting - if not by choice . Read their ‘ bouncebackability ’ stories here .
Few active riders in WorldSBK can admit to seriously thinking that they may have had to quit racing , and some will have never seriously entertained even the idea . But they have all , every one of them , had a deep career hole they have had to clamber out of .
Scott Redding , like many riders in the WorldSBK paddock , spent a lot of his earlier racing years elsewhere , so his lowest point came when he was an unsettled Aprilia MotoGP™ rider . “ It went from bad , to worse , to even worse . That was the hardest point for me . I had a lot of bad thoughts about retiring , finishing my career , a lot of doubt in myself . That is a potential ‘ breaking point .’ Can you dig deep and you come out of the other side ? Or you throw the towel in and you finish everything ? I didn ’ t work all my life , together with many people , to throw the towel in that easy . I had make do a bit of a change . I had to risk even more , because if I didn ’ t succeed in BSB , I was finished , basically .”
EXCITING CONTENT
A rider who would go on to win all three Catalunya races this year is Alvaro Bautista , now a factory Aruba Ducati rider . “ I think my low point was in 2005 , in 125cc , because my team switched from Aprilia to Honda machinery . I was one of the favourites to fight for the championship but we had a lot of problems . Many people said , ‘ you are low ’ or ‘ you cannot ever be fast again ’ - many people did not believe in me . But in my mind there was no chance of me staying home . Then I switched teams ; I went to Aspar . He trusted in me , and suddenly in the first race of 2006 I won the race and I became World Championship . I think yes , it was a big bounce back !”
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