Rinaldi thirteenth in race 1 at Losail

Race 1 of the final round of the 2019 WorldSBK season got underway tonight in Qatar, in the magnificent setting that the Losail international circuit affords under the lights of floodlights.

Michael Rinaldi concluded thirteenth the 17 laps of the Friday night after a complicated race. This result give him three more points in the Championship, where he’s thirteenth overall with 121 points.

Superpole 

After Free Practice session at a good level of performance with the eighth time (1'58.604) Rinaldi struggled with the soft tyre in the qualifying session. The 1'57.827 scored in the Superpole was his personal best time of the weekend but placed him fifteenth.

Race 1 

It was a difficult race for Michael Rinaldi on one of the hardest and longest track of the championship. After a positive start which had placed him at the limit of the top 10 the flagbearer of the team from Bergamo lose ground not being able to chase the riders in front of him. Rinaldi was overtaken by Camier, Razgatlioglu and Melandri but he managed to stay in the point zone until the checkered flag.

Marco Barnabò - Team Principal     

"Once again we were unable to take advantage of the soft tyre. As already happened in this season after a good performance in FP3 lapping with the race tyre, in Superpole the bike's set-up does not fit with the qualifying tyre. Starting from the beck it is difficult to recover. We still have some setup problems and Michael can't ride as he wants for the whole race".

Michael Ruben Rinaldi #21 Race 1: P13

 "We are facing problems that affected us during the season and this does not allow me to ride the bike as I know. I hope we can find a way out tomorrow because I want to end the season in the best possible way".