Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) stamped his dominance in the European Superstock 1000 race in the Pirelli Aragon Round. He made it look easy as he secured pole position and the victory in stunning style, crossing the line over three seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Opening the 2017 season with a stunning display, it will be a hard act to follow in Round Two, but the Italian isn’t getting carried away. Starting from pole position in a tight qualifying session for the STK1000 riders, Rinaldi quickly pulled an advantage over Maximilian Scheib (Nuova M2 Racing) who later crashed out of the race. He found himself running a lonely, track-day style race and never looked back, dominating the usually close field.

Rinaldi met the chequered flag 3.587s ahead of Florian Marino (Pata Yamaha Official STK1000 Team), and was stunned by his performance around MotorLand.

“I’m elated because we had a practically flawless weekend,” beamed Rinaldi. “We have reached all the goals we had set for ourselves, together with the team. I worked hard throughout the winter and the results were worth the effort. Anyway, we need to keep our feet on the ground and put our head down to work because there’s always room for improvement. We’re only at the beginning of the season, and there are still many races to go.”

Himself and his Ducati team will now begin their work ahead of Round Four, at the legendary TT Circuit Assen. All build up and reaction can be found with the WorldSBK.com VideoPass, as fans can keep up with all the stunning STK1000 action.