It was a brilliant WorldSBK Race 2 for Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team), who took his best WorldSBK finish to-date with an outstanding fourth place from eleventh on the grid. The Italian, who was only tenth and eleventh in Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race respectively, showed his mettle at Jerez to gain valuable points in his quest to be the best Independent team rider at the end of the season.

Rinaldi has been inconsistent at times in the 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, with pace often for the top tens in the races but occasional finishes towards the lower end of the points have seen the 23-year-old slip outside of the top ten in the standings. However, more performances like Race 2 at Jerez will see him come on strong and become a force to be reckoned with for the remainder in 2019.

Reviewing his performance in Race 2, Rinaldi said: “It was a good weekend for us but unfortunately, yesterday, we have some problems in the race. We know that we had the speed so we made a little improvement with the bike and I was really comfortable today. We improved our pace a lot and it was really, really good, and I am happy for the result too!”

Rinaldi’s strong finish means that it keeps Ducati’s run of top five results from Race 2 at Donington Park last year alive. Rinaldi’s best ever result in WorldSBK comes at a circuit at which he’d never featured too highly before, making the result extra special.

Continuing to evaluate his result in Race 2, the Italian stated: “This is my best position ever and now we want to try and improve. It will be very hard because everyone is so fast but of course, now our target is to try and stay in this kind of position. We have to work and not be too happy about this; yes we must enjoy but now we are focused on Misano, where we want to improve and have another strong result!”

Born in Rimini, the 23-year-old really does head home at the next round of WorldSBK! Follow all the action from Misano with the WorldSBK VideoPass!