Rinaldi breaks through for maiden WorldSBK win

2020 WorldSBK – Round Five – Aragon

A new face stepped on top of the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship podium as Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GoEleven Ducati) claimed a sensational maiden victory in Race 1 for the Pirelli Teruel Round at MotorLand Aragon. Rinaldi had started from second on the grid and had topped all three Free Practice sessions.

Despite appearing to get a bad start, Rinaldi held second place on the opening lap but used the straight line speed advantage of his Ducati machine to pass Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on the run to Turn 16 on the opening lap and from there, he did not look back; lapping consistently faster than the reigning Champion.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi – P1

“It’s unbelievable! I’m very happy but I don’t know how to explain this emotion right now. It was a difficult year last year but this year I’ve found a family. Always I’ve had some people behind me who support me in difficult times. Now we are here! I couldn’t hope for a better race and I will enjoy this.”

Rea finished the race in second place, almost six seconds behind Rinaldi but the 20 points gained on Championship rival Scott Redding (Aruba Racing – Ducati), with Redding crashing out on Lap 7 while under pressure from Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), means the five-time Champion is now 30-points clear of Redding.

Jonathan Rea – P2

“Track position at Motorland is everything so we put a lot of concentration into that Superpole lap. Thanks to the guys for giving me a great bike and the lap was good. I decided to go early in the Superpole session because I thought that if I could go out on track just on my own, with no distractions, there would be no excuses. I was super-happy with the lap time and a clear view into T1. I knew that if I could be in front I could dictate the pace more. With the temperature going up the softest SCO rear tyre would be an option for a lot of people, so sitting on the grid I knew I might have to attack and defend on different fronts, and manage my race accordingly. When Michael came through it was obvious which tyre he was on because in two corners he had a gap. I was hoping he would come to me as the race went on but Michael did a really good job.”

Scott Redding – DNF

“It was a very difficult race because since the first laps the feeling with the front was negative. 30 points? It’s a big gap to give to an experienced driver like Jonathan Rea. Now we have to do our best to beat him in every race. My goal is to continue to fight for the championship and I will certainly not give up now after the great work we have done so far. It is clear, however, that we will have to make great improvements to try to recover the disadvantage“.

Redding’s Aruba Racing – Ducati team-mate, Chaz Davies, claimed a podium as two Ducati machines finished in the top three. Davies was in a battle for third with Bautista before the Spanish rider crashed at Lap 14 on Turn 14 and retired from the race.

Chaz Davies – P3

“Getting on the podium is always nice even if I must admit that I would have preferred to take a step forward compared to the two second places obtained last weekend. The weather conditions were very different and this forced us to work a lot on the bike and tires. I chose to race with the soft tire (X) but I had to manage from the first laps to finish the race with a good pace unlike Rinaldi, who has a different weight and could push to the maximum. Anyway, I congratulate him for his extraordinary victory“.

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) finished in fourth place for the 18-lap race as the lead Yamaha rider, one place ahead of team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Michael van der Mark – P4

“This morning we were just unlucky in Superpole, I caught a slower rider on my quick lap so I had to roll off and try again, but the best of the tyre was gone so I had to start from 12th position – which is far from ideal, especially at this track. We knew we had a good pace and would need to have a good start – I managed to pass a couple of guys from the beginning but I was using the softer “X” tyre and understood that I had to stay calm and try to be consistent. It was a bit of a lonely race after I’d made the initial passes but it worked out to stay calm and consistent, and in the end we finished fourth which is not so bad. I think we can improve the bike a little bit and tomorrow in the Superpole Race I need to fight hard for a better starting position.”

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Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P5

“Today my qualifying position was not bad, much better than last weekend, but I went wide at Turn 1 of my fast lap so maybe there was more time to be gained. From seventh position on the grid, I made a good start on my Yamaha R1 and in the beginning of the race I tried to follow Redding in the front group. My rear grip was better than last weekend but after six laps it was not possible to keep going forward with the podium group. We take good points in fifth today, and tomorrow we will fight in the Superpole Race to get a good starting position for Race 2.”

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) battled both the field and illness to take a sixth place finished after a titanic battle with numerous riders while Leon Haslam was the first Honda home after Bautista crashed out fighting towards a podium finish.

Alex Lowes – P6

“I want to say a massive congratulations to Michael Ruben Rinaldi. To win your first WorldSBK race is an amazing feeling. I remember when I won my first one. For me it was a tough race today. I have been struggling physically this weekend so I missed this morning’s practice session. I had no energy and I have not been able to keep any food inside so the race was really tough for me. I tried to make a good start and just race the guys in front of me. But that was still one the toughest races I have done so far because I had no energy to force the bike around. I had a little fight, which made me focus on the race, and we managed to take sixth position.”

Leon Haslam – P7

“A challenging race today. The weekend has been going better and we’ve been more consistent over the practices but in the race I struggled right from lap one, especially with the front tyre. I was having to really manage my riding and the lap times were not as good as what we’d seen during the practices. I battled with Sykes and Lowes and finished seventh, but honestly I was anticipating a top-five finish which our pace over the weekend indicated. Hopefully we can resolve some of the issues ahead of tomorrow’s races and we’ll see what we can do.”

Alvaro Bautista – DNF

“Firstly I want to apologise to my team, but I really wanted to score a good result. I made a fairly good start to the race and through the first laps I was doing better than I have early on in other races, which was very positive. In terms of pace, I was able to stick fairly close to the frontrunners, Rinaldi aside. I was up there fighting for the podium for the best part of the race but in the final stages I started to have a problem changing gear through certain corners and at one point, this caused me to run wide which allowed Davies to pass. I knew I was on the limit, but I tried to defend my position and unfortunately I crashed. On the one hand, I’m angry with myself for not settling for fourth, but on the other, I’d have been angry if I didn’t try to push for third. I’m really sorry for the team of course, as they didn’t deserve that result. We need to focus on the positives, in that we’re up there fighting and also scored our best grid position so far this season, and tomorrow we have two more opportunities to demonstrate our determination and hard work.”

Eugene Laverty (BMW) claimed his best result of the season with eighth place with Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha) claimed a top ten finished ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW).

Eugene Laverty – P8

“Actually, it has been our best race so far this year. Starting from 16th is still difficult but unfortunately at the moment we can’t go faster with the bike, but at least we can keep a good rhythm in the race. It’s tough from down there but I managed to come forward in the second half of the race and I used a bit of my experience to manage the bike well in the end when the tyres were slimy and the others suffered and were making mistakes while I kept smooth and came forward. It was a good race and I think we have definitely done something. For tomorrow’s Superpole race I’ve given myself a task because it’s going to be tough from P16 but I will be aiming for the top nine because that gives you a top nine grid position for race two. That is going to be my only goal for the Superpole race. And in the final race – no matter where I will be starting from – I’ve got to go forwards. We are trying to improve the bike further and to finish the weekend on a real high.”

Tom Sykes – P10

“It’s a shame today as we are still riding around some limitations. In Superpole, it’s very easy to manage the BMW S 1000 RR, I feel very relaxed on the bike and where I need to be. In the races we certainly have some strong points, but we are still missing out quite big in some areas so that is difficult. For the race we had a good start, but ran into trouble with braking as I was overriding the bike, which ultimately had a knock-on effect in the remaining 12 laps. It’s tricky but we are always learning. I’d rather have a difficult year this year, build up the knowledge and come back next year stronger, but for now it’s hard to take. On paper and the way things feel, I know I am so much better than this. For sure, like I said, there are some really strong points on the package, just at the moment we are not able to see the full potential of the BMW S 1000 RR. There is good spirit from the boys, the whole of the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team are trying new things and working hard so we will come back tomorrow and give it our all.”

Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) finished in 11th place ahead of Loris Baz (Ten Kate Yamaha) in 12th. Just four seconds separated Lowes in sixth and Baz in 12th to show how competitive the WorldSBK field is in 2020. Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti) secured a 13th place finish while Matteo Ferrari (Motocorsa Racing) secured a points finish on his WorldSBK debut, finishing ahead of Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing Honda Team) to complete the points.

Maximilian Scheib (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was the last classified rider in 16th place after an incident in the early stages of the race, with Bautista and Redding not completing the race alongside Roman Ramos (OutDo Kawasaki TPR), Marco Melandri (Barni Racing Team) and Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) also not retiring from the race.

WorldSBK Race Results

WorldSBK Championship Standings

World Supersport

Italian rookie Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) continued his streak of race victories in FIM Supersport World Championship as he secured a win in Race 1 at MotorLand Aragon for the Pirelli Teruel Round as he survived early pressure to make it eight in a row. Locatelli, like in all races so far this season, started from pole position and claimed the fastest lap on his way to victory.

Locatelli had initially fallen behind Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) at the start but quickly swept past the Spanish rider on the opening lap to regain the lead. Despite trying to pull a gap to the rest of the field, Locatelli was put under pressure in the early laps by Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha); the Frenchman unable to pass Locatelli.

Cluzel would end up in a battle with Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) for second place with the Italian rider getting by despite strong defence from Cluzel; the Frenchman completing the podium but lost more ground to Locatelli in the Championship fight as Locatelli moves 54 points clear at the top.

Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished the race in fourth place ahead of teammate Philipp Oettl in fifth while Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) equalled his best WorldSSP result of his career; the 2019 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship title winner finishing in sixth place.

It was a career best finish for Hungarian rider Peter Sebestyen (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth) with a seventh-place finish at MotorLand Aragon; Sebestyen continuing to show impressive pace throughout the weekend as he looks to make a step forward. Gonzalez and Sebestyen had a battle that lasted until the last lap with Gonzalez just holding on. Danny Webb (WRP Wepol racing) finished in eighth place with Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) and Federico Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) completing the top ten.

Alejandro Ruiz Carranza (EMPERADOR Racing Team) finished in 11th place as the highest placed WorldSSP Challenge rider while Indonesian rider Galang Hendra Pratama (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing) secured his best result of the season with 12th place. Kevin Manfredi (Altogoo Racing Team), Axel Bassani (Soradis Yamaha Motoxracing) and Andy Verdoïa (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing) rounded out the points.

Viñales did not finish the race following a crash on Lap 3 while Can Öncü (Turkish Racing Team) retired from the race after a high-speed crash at Turn 7 on Lap 5. Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing) was the first retirement from the race following an incident on Lap 1 while Patrick Hobelsberger (Dynavolt Honda), Hikari Okubo (Dynavolt Honda) and Lachlan Epis (MPM Routz Racing Team).

Andrea Locatelli – P1

“It’s a great day. The work we did this morning was good for the race. We tried to push hard from the opening laps. I can push every lap, this is so good because with the hot conditions we are very strong. We still need to work a little bit for the conditions because maybe it’ll be cooler.”

Raffaele de Rosa – P2

“I am very happy. In the last race I had good pace, but we didn’t improve in qualifying. Today, I did improve in qualifying and it was possible to have a good start. Like always, my first and second lap is not fast but I’m happy at the end.”

Jules Cluzel – P3

“It was a difficult race. I really enjoyed the beginning of the race because I felt like I was strong, but after three or four laps I had a tyre drop and I didn’t understand what happened. I felt this morning that I could do one very fast lap, I did a really fast lap in superpole, but after two or three laps it drops, and it did during the race. It was not easy as I did not know if the guys behind could come back but, in the end, I was an easy third. It was so difficult. I was losing the front everywhere, pushing into the corner entry and sliding like crazy. 16 points is okay for today and tomorrow we’ll try for a bit more.”

World Supersport Race Results

World Supersport Championship Standings

World Supersport 300

Thrills and spills were the name of the game in FIM Supersport 300 World Championship as Victor Rodriguez Nunez (2R Racing) claimed a stunning victory at MotorLand Aragon despite coming through the Last Chance Race and starting from 30th place of the 36-strong grid, claiming victory by just 0.042s.

Nunez battled his way through the field and claimed the lead on numerous occasions but led at the most important time, claiming victory by just 0.042s ahead of Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSSP300) in a thrilling battle involving a large number of riders; the top six separated by just one second, showing how competitive WorldSSP300 is. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) extended his Championship lead with a podium finish, the Dutchman having to fight back after a mistake around the halfway stage of the race at the final two corners.

Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) finished in fourth place with 2018 Champion Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) in fifth place; two of the Championship protagonists staying close to Buis in order to not lose too much ground. Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) finished in sixth place with Mika Perez (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) securing a top seven finish, finishing half a second behind Orradre.

Bruno Ieraci (Kawasaki GP Project) finished in eighth place ahead of compatriot Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300); the two Italians secured a strong top ten finish ahead of Adrian Huertas (ProGP Racing) with Alan Kroh (Yamaha MS Racing) missing out on a top ten finished by just half a second.

Meikon Kawakami (Tram Brasil AD 78) finished in 12th place ahead of the recovering Filip Salac (ACCR Czech Talent Team – Willi Race); the Czech rider forced to start at the back of the grid following a penalty but fighting his way to finish in 13th place and a points scoring debut for the Moto3™ regular.

Ton Kawakami (Yamaha MS Racing) was classified in 14th place ahead of Alvaro Diaz (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WSSP300); the Spanish rider rounding out the points-paying positions with a 15th place finish; holding off the challenge from Johan Gimbert (GP Project) to secure one point in the Championship standings.

Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project) was the first to retire from the race after an incident on Lap 1 put him out of contention, while Oliver König (MOVISIO by Freudenberg Jr Team) Tom Booth-Amos (RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki), Glenn van Straalen (EAB Ten Kate Racing), Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) and Kim Aloisi (ProGP Racing) all retired from the race.

Both Australian entrants also got caught up in that early incident but managed to survive and bring their bikes home to the flag, Tom Edwards in P18 and countryman Tom Bramich P23.

Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) and Nick Kalinin (Battley-RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) came together at Turn 1 on Lap 7 forcing both to retire while Hugo de Cancellis (Team TRAISMENO) had a crash at Turn 7 on the same lap; the Frenchman making slight contact with another rider before coming off his bike.

Victor Rodriguez Nunez – P1

“It was a very difficult race because starting 30th is completely different to starting from the front rows. I tried to push a lot, all that I could, and tried to get to the front. When I got there, I tried to get positions lap-by-lap and stay at the front. We are really happy.”

Bahattin Sofuoglu – P2

“This morning, and all this weekend, was a very good start for us as we were always near the top five. In Superpole, we took pole position. In the race start, I had a little bit of pressure on my side and after the start of the race I did my best. There was a little gap but I am happy for second position.”

Jeffrey Buis – P3

“At the beginning of the race, I had a good start, but I made two big mistakes so came back into the group. I needed to fight through that group but at the end of the race I had good tactics and third position is good for the Championship.”

Tom Edwards – P18

“Qualifying P20 made it difficult for race one also a crash in front of me in the first lap put me back in P28 I tried my best to fight my way back up but having front end grip issues made it difficult to overtake but ended up P18. We have some big improvements to make for tomorrow’s race and I think without any first lap drama it should all be okay.”

Tom Bramich – P23

“P3 in Fp3 but didn’t get it together for the qualifying and it made our race hard…the pace is there to fight in the main group but after avoiding an accident on lap 1 it cost us too much time. Some more changes in the morning so let’s see how race 2 goes. Thanks so much to everyone for all the support lately, it means a lot!”

WSSP300 Race Results

WSSP300 Championship Standings