Michael Ruben Rinaldi starts his “Home GP” in a great way giving to the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Team the first place in the free practice for the Pirelli Made in Italy Emilia-Romagna Round, third event of the 2021 WorldSbk season.
Scott Redding has to deal with a technical problem in FP1 and a penalty in FP2 but still manages to close the day at two-tenths of a second from the hypothetical front row.
- FP1
Michael Rinaldi starts the weekend robustly at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, remaining at the top of the standings for a long time and then ending up in second position just a few thousandths of a second behind Razgatlioglu (Yamaha).
Scott Redding pushes hard too, but a technical problem forces him to go back to the pits after only 10 laps.
- FP1 Result
P1 – T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) 1’34.848
P2 – M. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.054
P3 – G. Gerloff (Yamaha) +0.075
P4 – C. Davies (Ducati) +0.543
P5 – A. Bassani (Ducati) +0.701
P12 – S. Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.137
- FP2
The feeling with the Ducati Panigale V4R grows lap after lap allowing Michael Rinaldi to push harder. The Italian rider sets the best time in three of the four sectors and closes first with an advantage of almost 3 tenths.
Due to the penalty imposed by the Race Direction for not stopping in front of the flag after the technical issue in FP1, Scott Redding is forced to skip the first 20 minutes of FP2. Despite this, the British rider manages to complete 13 laps with an encouraging race pace.
- FP1/FP2 Combined Standings
P1 – M. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’34.334
P2 – A. Lowes (Kawasaki) +0.294
P3 – J. Rea (Kawasaki) +0.514
P4 – T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) +0.514
P5 – G. Gerloff (Yamaha) +0.589
P6 – S. Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.742
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
“It was a very positive day especially because we were able to make some big steps forward. This morning we were fast but I wasn’t happy with the feeling with the bike. The team did a great job between FP1 and FP2 and in the afternoon I was able to push more effectively. When we work like this we can only be satisfied with ourselves. Tomorrow we will give our best”.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #45)
“It was definitely not the Friday I was expecting to start the weekend well. Unfortunately, I had that technical problem and then the penalty. I went to the race direction and I apologized for coming into the pits despite the flag. We were not able to complete the program that we planned, and this is the reason why I do not feel to be in the best conditions. Tomorrow we will have to improve a lot to be more competitive”.
