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Rinaldi reflects on moving to Ducati: "It feels like coming home to my family!"

Tuesday, 23 March 2021 14:01 GMT

After taking the STK1000 title with the Aruba.It Junior Team, Michael Ruben Rinaldi will make his debut with the Ducati factory team in WorldSBK in 2021

2021 will mark the start of a new era at the Aruba.It Racing – Ducati outfit as Michael Ruben Rinaldi joins the team after his breakthrough campaign with Team GoEleven where he claimed one victory and three podiums. It is not the first time he has worked with the Aruba.It outfit though as he showed his talent and prowess in 2017 when he claimed the European Superstock 1000 Championship title.

Since then, Rinaldi has had three years of action in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for the Aruba.It Racing – Junior Team in 2018, Barni Racing in 2019 and Team GoEleven in 2020; with the latter where he secured his and the team’s first WorldSBK victory. Moving on to his fourth team in four seasons, Rinaldi will be looking to build on his successful 2020 campaign as he moves to the factory Ducati outfit.

Discussing his move to Aruba.It Racing – Ducati, Rinaldi said at the team’s launch: “After the Superstock 1000 Title with the Aruba.it Junior Team, now it feels like coming home to my family. Wearing these colours is a great honour, and it makes me very proud. I think all the guys in the team are proud too because it means that the job done in the Superstock 1000 championship was the right one. We aim higher this year. The 2020 season was very positive because I won my first race: a beautiful memory, a goal I had been pursuing for a long time. But now the bar is set higher, and I will work harder. Joining the factory team means having all the support from the Aruba.it Racing - Team, and from the guys at Ducati. We’ll have to work with new components, and I think I have the right technical support and the ideal environment to try and achieve good results.”

Stefano Cecconi, Team Principal at Aruba.It Racing – Ducati, discussed Rinaldi’s career path that has led to him the factory Ducati seat: “Rinaldi has had a long journey with us, including winning the Superstock 1000 title in our second attempt. It is a great satisfaction for us to see him in the factory team, as this has been our aim since the beginning of this adventure together. In light of his extremely convincing season with a private team in 2020, we hope he can do even better this year.”

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