‘Special day’ for Rinaldi as he debuts with Aruba.it Ducati at Aragon

Michael Rinaldi made his official debut for the Aruba.it Ducati team during WorldSBK free practice today as he finished sixth fastest. 

Rinaldi also pipped team-mate Scott Redding on the timesheets as the British rider was one place back in seventh. 

Redding was quicker of the two during this afternoon’s FP2 session - finishing third behind Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea, but it was the Italian’s time during the cooler morning conditions that kept him ahead.  

Aside from some ‘inconveniences’, it was a smooth first day for Rinaldi on his factory team debut.

"Today was a very special day. It was my debut with the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team for an official session, that’s why I am very happy and full of pride," said Rinaldi. 

"I have to admit that both FP1 and FP2 were a bit special. We had to face some inconveniences that we did not expect but despite everything, my race pace is not bad and this gives me great confidence ahead of tomorrow.

"I'm sure the team will work hard to put me in a position to be competitive."

For Redding, it was a slow start to proceedings as he was outside the top ten during FP1. 

But that was as much to do with dedicating FP1 to working on used tyre performance and not putting in a time-attack effort as anything else. 

Redding summed up his day by saying: "I think it was a difficult Friday for all the riders. With my team, we have worked a lot on the choice of tires without focusing on the fast lap time but trying to find a good pace with both solutions. 

"The red flag has interrupted our work but I think we have found positive indications. 

"It's difficult to compare the feeling I had today with last year's race, especially because the grip was really lower."