        If there are certainties in the Superbike paddock then one of these is the Aruba Ducati team that, from 2015 until now, has steered the Ducati mission in the production-derived paddock. A pathway that, in order to become perfect, needs just one final step, or rather the world title, something that is fixed in the mind of both Team Principal Stefano Cecconi and the rest of the squad. And 2022 could be that year, considering the standout performance of prodigal son Alvaro Bautista. Stefano, how can you sum up Bautista part 2? &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t ask for more right now, as it wasn&rsquo;t exactly a given that he&rsquo;d immediately find the confidence he had with the 2019 bike; the bike is similar but not the same. He was pleased right from the first test, which gave us peace of mind, and the race results have further improved the mood of course. I think Alvaro has been able to bridge some gaps between then and now, and so he feels more confident and in control now&rdquo;. And how are things on a personal level? &ldquo;As a person, Alvaro has always been wonderful, both in terms of his professionalism and friendliness. His awareness is different, in that it was all new to him in 2019, although he nevertheless put together an excellent rookie season, but you can sense he&rsquo;s more relaxed now&rdquo;. Considering his current form, do you regret the fact that his contact was not renewed in 2019? &ldquo;In hindsight, I&rsquo;d say yes, but situations need to be contextualized. At that time, it wasn&rsquo;t possible to come to an agreement, and Alvaro believed in a project and thought he&rsquo;d find something better, something that has now made him more mindful perhaps. In terms of results, 2019 left us with a bitter taste only up to a certain point &ndash; it was pure chance that the first tracks on the calendar suited Alvaro and the bike, while those that came later exacerbated the negative trend to some extent. If we&rsquo;d run the same championship but inverted the tracks, the overall perception of the season would have been different&rdquo;. How do you think the 2020 and 2021 seasons would have gone with Alvaro on the team? &ldquo;Well I expect. I don&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;d have done worse than second or third, but I can&rsquo;t say we&rsquo;d have easily won the championships during those seasons&rdquo;. Redding recently criticised Bautista&rsquo;s weight advantage, calling for a bike+rider weight ruling. What do you think? &ldquo;Scott says what he thinks, which is a good thing. I don&rsquo;t agree, the weight of the rider brings advantages and disadvantages. For example, Redding is stronger and can therefore overcome certain problems. Alvaro has an advantage relating to his weight, but less so than you might think, in that he makes the difference by lifting the bike on exiting the corners. He&rsquo;s also very good at not consuming the tyres, which obviously helps at the end of a race. I don&rsquo;t think it would be fair to penalise him where he has an advantage without helping him where he&rsquo;s at a disadvantage. And we weren&rsquo;t in favour of this rule when we had Redding and Davies on the team either&rdquo;. Cecconi: "I don&rsquo;t want to sign contracts in December, but not now either"  The market&rsquo;s in full swing now. What&rsquo;s the situation re the second seat? &ldquo;In this regard, the pressure is more external than internal. We&rsquo;re fairly relaxed and can take it a bit easy. We&rsquo;ve got used to a market where decisions for the following year are taken early on in the current year, which is strange. I don&rsquo;t want to sign contracts in December, but we&rsquo;re barely midway through the season. We may stay as we are or we may decide to make changes&rdquo;. Are the candidates Rinaldi, Petrucci and Bassani? &ldquo;To be honest we&rsquo;re not in an advanced stage of negotiations with anyone&rdquo;. In Supersport you&rsquo;ve embarked on a new path. Are you pleased? &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased with Bulega, firstly with how he&rsquo;s tackling the season &ndash; he was, and still is, sure of his decision. We&rsquo;re paying for the fact the bike is new and are battling bikes that are a lot further forward in terms of their development. At the start of the project, we&rsquo;d have said that we&rsquo;d be very happy with podiums, but now we&rsquo;re starting to crave that first win. The limitations at the start were significant, but things are improving now, although the old Supersport bikes still have something more&rdquo;. Is Bulega already sorted for 2023? &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll stay in Supersport, also because we considered the first year to be a learning experience, with a view to trying to win during the second year&rdquo;. Is there a project to create a supply chain of riders for Superbike in Supersport? &ldquo;That was the initial idea, also because we&rsquo;d already started to do that in Superstock1000, which also fields bikes that are more similar to the Superbike. When the new Supersport class was created, we thought it would make sense to develop a rider internally, constructing a pathway that could also lead to the factory team in the reigning class&rdquo;. Aruba is in MotoGP as a title sponsor for the first time this year. Does this mark the start of a change of paddock? &ldquo;Right now we&rsquo;re focused on Superbike and Supersport. The MotoGP opportunity came about when we discussed the renewal with Ducati. Pirro has always done wildcards and seeing as we have a great relationship with the MotoGP and SBK test teams, we took this decision. It&rsquo;s been great to see a piece of our paddock on the other side, but we have no further plans for now&rdquo;. Speaking of the test teams, do you think more could be done on the Superbike side? &ldquo;There is development, I can confirm that. Ducati has done well to only reveal part of the work it&rsquo;s been doing, also because the fact we&rsquo;re leading the championship is proof that we&rsquo;re working hard. We&rsquo;re working and I think the results will come. By the end of the year, the new version of the Panigale V4R will be presented and this will definitely help us further.&rdquo; Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Puig: &ldquo;We thought the 2022 was competitive, we were wrong&rdquo;       

The Aruba Team Principal: "He&rsquo;s bridged some gaps. The market moves too fast now: we&rsquo;re not in advanced negotiations"

WorldSBK, Cecconi: “Bautista is in control. The second seat? We’re not in a hurry”

In a little over two weeks the Superbike show will get underway at Arag&oacute;n, and Ducati has high hopes of achieving its main goal: the title. Alvaro Bautista returns to the Borgo Panigale garage and will flank the re-confirmed Michael Rinaldi, as they take on the Yamahas and Kawasakis.  The determination of Dall&#39;Igna   Ducati Corse general manager, Luigi Dall&rsquo;Igna, is ready for this new challenge: &ldquo;The level of WorldSBK is growing every year, as well as the competition. Obviously, this doesn&#39;t scare us, and on the contrary, it pushes us to give more and more, work more carefully and focus on every single detail&rdquo;. Memories of last season are positive: &ldquo;In the 2021 World Championship, our team was the only one to have won at least one race with both riders, and this confirms the potential of the Panigale V4R&rdquo;.  Ducati heads out on track with the intention of securing the title of course: &ldquo;To achieve our most important goal, we rely on Alvaro Bautista&#39;s return - who needs no introduction - and Michael Rinaldi&#39;s desire to impress&rdquo;. But 2022 also bring another exciting new adventure: &ldquo;We will also be competing in the World Supersport Championship with the Panigale V2. It&#39;s a fascinating challenge that underlines Ducati&#39;s deep commitment to the world of production-based racing.&quot;  Great confidence in Michael Rinaldi   Supporting Ducati once again this year is Aruba.it, and CEO/team principal Stefano Cecconi comments: &ldquo;We look at the 2022 WorldSBK season with high ambition and strong determination. The goal of our team is to always take a step forward, year after year, in terms of performance and results. This is the reason why we are proud to represent Ducati in the World Superbike Championship, feeling the presence and passion of the Ducatista people on every circuit&rdquo;. As for Alvaro&rsquo;s return, Stefano comments: &quot;We bet on Alvaro Bautista&rsquo;s return and we want to fight with him a more exciting season than the 2019, which gave us great satisfactions after all&rdquo;.  And they have confidence in the Italian too: &ldquo;We firmly believe in Michael Rinaldi and we reckon he is ready to take that significant step forward after the steady growth he has shown so far. Moreover, as Aruba.it Racing, we will be protagonists of a new adventure with Nicol&ograve; Bulega and the Ducati Panigale V2 in the SuperSport World Championship. Another fascinating challenge that underlines our growing commitment&rdquo;.  The Aruba.it Racing &ndash; Ducati team has everything it needs   Adding to what Dall&rsquo;Igna and Cecconi have to say is Ducati Motor Holding CEO, Claudio Domenicali: &ldquo;We share values, skills, goals, targets with Aruba.it. Plus, and we both believe in the importance of innovation and technology. Aruba.it is a strategic partner, on and off the track, and we are happy to start another season together in the WorldSBK Championship, the most important production-based racing Championship&quot;.  The fans can have fun watching the racing on TV but that&rsquo;s not all: &ldquo;The bikes our fans can buy are as close as possible to the bikes that race on track like the Panigale V4 and, from this year,&nbsp; the Panigale V2 that will make its debut in the World Supersport Championship. This is our philosophy of putting racing technology at the service of our passionate and sporty customers.&quot;  The championship countdown has begun: &ldquo;The Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team is a perfect mix of experience and enthusiasm thanks to the return of Alvaro Bautista and the confirmation of Michael Ruben Rinaldi. I wish them and the whole team the best of luck for the 2022 season.&quot;  Translated by Heather Watson  SBK, BMW loses parts: Van Der Mark to miss Misano tests due to injury 

A new season is about to begin and Ducati management is more confident than ever in terms of its rider line-up, both in the reigning class and SuperSport

WorldSBK, Dall&rsquo;Igna: &ldquo;The title? We rely on Alvaro Bautista&rsquo;s return&rdquo;

The news had been in the air for a while, particularly after Danilo Petrucci&rsquo;s comments about his (off-roading) future, but now we have confirmation. Michael Ruben Rinaldi will stay with the Ducati Aruba team in 2022, flanking a returning Alvaro Bautista, who will take the place of Scott Redding.  A renewal that was already rumoured then, for a Rinaldi who is not exactly enjoying the best moment of his career right now. After a standout weekend at Misano, the Italian has only reached the podium in the Superpole Race at Assen. Might this renewal provide the right fuel with which to tackle the second part of the season?  Last spots to fill   Now that it has its factory team sorted, Ducati now needs to consider its satellite teams, where nothing is confirmed as yet. At Go Eleven it is unclear as to whether Chaz Davies will stay or in fact leave, charmed by the Honda sirens, while team Barni has to decide whether to continue on with Tito Rabat, short on results right now, or turn its attentions to another rider.  The Ducati market intersects with that of other manufacturers of course, not least Honda which, as we&rsquo;ve said, needs to find a replacement for Bautista (Sykes a possible alternative to Davies), while also evaluating what can be done with Leon Haslam, as the Brit moves ever closer to 40.  Translated by Heather Watson  World SSP600: Andy Verdoia returns to the championship with GMT94 

The factory Ducati team completes its line-up for next season, the Italian set to flank a returning Bautista. The market focus now moves on to others, starting with Honda

WorldSBK, official: Rinaldi and Aruba Ducati together again in 2022

Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Andrea Locatelli, or rather, two top SBK riders for 2021. Why this definition? Because they are both strong young title-winners riding factory bikes.  &ldquo;Rino&rdquo; topped the Independent classification aboard his Go Eleven Panigale V4 R, while &quot;Loka&quot; won the Supersport championship, scoring a record number of wins with the Evan Bros R6.  Numbers 21 and 55 will both compete for factory teams, namely Aruba Ducati&nbsp;and Crescent Yamaha. Their respective steeds will benefit from every last update provided by the manufacturers and, if need be, the pair can even put in special requests.  This is the first time they will both benefit from such status. So what will they achieve next year? Or rather, what kind of results will they score and which of the two will do best? It&rsquo;s impossible to predict, but let&rsquo;s look at the pros and cons in each case.  The expert and the newbie   Although Rino is still very young, he&rsquo;s already considered an SBK expert. Not a veteran, but he does possess significant experience. The 2017 Superstock champion knows the production-derived paddock well, having been a part of it since 2014. No small thing, as knowing how the wind blows and feeling at home is always an advantage for any sportsperson, especially a rider. Michael Ruben will therefore know how to approach the various phases of the weekend, particularly the more complicated moments.  Loka will tackle his second season, but is now aboard a 1000, better prepped than a Supersport 600 machine. Andrea will have to learn everything, from how to manage the power and adjust the electronics, to tyre behaviour, the three-race format, and the consistency of his rivals. Finding the settings for his R1 M will be the first thing to do and, if he can find the right feeling, he can then try to attack. But he&rsquo;ll need two things, or rather talent and time. The first is clear to see, the second is a variable.  Pressure and freedom   It&rsquo;s one thing to race for a private team, but it&rsquo;s quite another to wear factory colours. And Michael Ruben will have realised this, strong during his 2018 debut season and then in some difficulty the following year before exploding during the 2020 championship. In testing with the factory team at Estoril, the 25-year old was surrounded by technicians and engineers, all attentive to Rino&rsquo;s feedback as the new factory Aruba rider.  When there is little you can change, you ride and that&rsquo;s that. More or less. But when you need to steer development, you need to have clear ideas or you&rsquo;ll waste time and lose confidence. Being part of a factory team involves twisting the throttle - something Rinaldi knows how to do &ndash; but also telling the racing department where to intervene &ndash; a more difficult and yet verifiable task. And while fourth place as an Independent rider can be considered an excellent result, as a factory rider it&rsquo;s as good as a defeat.  Andrea is hungry and wants to do as well as possible. Rightly so. Nevertheless, he himself expects a sort of apprenticeship period. Yamaha is also aware of this, and Loka will be put under what is a good kind of pressure for a rookie, advised not to overdo it but not to do too little either. Locatelli is more likely to adhere to the first option, twisting the throttle in the right way at the right time. Using his head, as he always has throughout his career.  Tough but correct team-mates   Redding and Razgatlioglu, bulldogs that never let up. We know there are other rivals on track too - a certain Johnny Rea for example - but your team-mate is always your most direct reference. In practice, Scott and Toprak will be Rino and Loka&rsquo;s main rivals. The Brit and the Turk are aggressive on track, but correct and clean. In the garage too, although they favour quiet and a more solitary work method.  Redding hoped that Davies would remain with Aruba for another year, and that means something. Exactly what, we will soon see, because Michael Ruben will have no intention of playing the part of second rider, not least because he&rsquo;s Italian, as are the team and bike. Pride and passion.  Razgatlioglu, on the other hand, doesn&rsquo;t worry too much about who&rsquo;s on the other side of the garage. He has a particular mentality and, the greater his competition, the more competitive he becomes. For number 54, wearing the same shirt as Locatelli is like wearing the same shirt as his 2020 team-mate Van Der Mark. Soguoglu&rsquo;s prodigy goes his own way and but will Andrea appreciate this, having been the sole Evan Bros flagbearer in Supersport?  Translated by Heather Watson  WorldSBK, the 2021 Kawasaki-Ducati battle to commence with testing at Jerez 

Michael Ruben and Andrea are both set to be factory riders, in Ducati and Yamaha. With different experience yet paths that intersect, which of the two Italians will score the most prestigious results?

4 risultati per 'EN Michael Ruben Rinaldi'

WorldSBK, Cecconi: “Bautista is in control. The second seat? We’re not in a hurry”

WorldSBK, Dall’Igna: “The title? We rely on Alvaro Bautista’s return”

WorldSBK, official: Rinaldi and Aruba Ducati together again in 2022

WorldSBK, Rinaldi and Locatelli: who will do best in 2021?