Donington ‘not like racing in Misano’, but Rinaldi confident of good weekend

Double WorldSBK race winner at Misano, Michael Rinaldi, is confident that he ‘can have a positive weekend’ at Donington Park - circuit in which he’s never finished inside the top ten.

Robert Jones

01 Jul 2021

Michael Ruben Rinaldi practice start, Misano WorldSBK 2021
© Gold and Goose

Michael Rinaldi brings fantastic momentum into this weekend’s round four of the 2021 WorldSBK championship at Donington Park.

The Italian claimed his second and third career wins last time out at Misano - first for the factory Aruba.it Ducati team, which saw him move from outside the top ten in the title standings to fifth.

Donington Park hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for the 25 year-old as he’s yet to achieve a top ten result in five race appearances so far.

But with that said, Rinaldi feels ‘the situation is different’ now, and that the breakthrough of performance in Italy has given him the confidence needed.

Rinaldi said: "Donington is a circuit where I have not been particularly comfortable in the past. But now the situation is very different.

"Certainly, we will need to find the speed to be competitive. We will work hard both on Thursday and in Friday’s free practice to get to Race-1 in the best conditions.

"Of course, it's not like racing in Misano but I'm confident that we can have a positive weekend."

Rinaldi’s impressive two wins and second in race three at Misano was the first time he outscored Scott Redding as team-mates this season, while it was just the second time since the beginning of 2020 that he finished every race of a particular weekend ahead of the Brit - Magny-Cours, France the other occasion.