Mugello looked like it might be a turning point for Michael Ruben Rinaldi and the B-Max Racing team after the difficulties they faced in the two races at Misano. And that’s exactly how it went, until the lights went out in Race 1, when the Ducati rider began to lose ground inexorably, plummeting from second on the grid to 6th place, where he crossed the finish line. This result doesn't reflect the true value of Rinaldi and the team, and it's one that even the 30-year-old himself cannot fully explain. We caught up with him outside his pit at the end of the race to ask him what went wrong.
“We can see that we’re capable of going fast, but not in the race. Yesterday, I did a mini race simulation to clear up any doubts, and I had a good pace. Definitely faster than what we showed today. Maybe not fast enough to win, but certainly good enough for the podium,” the rider from Romagna told us. “I’m sure that ,if we can put ourselves in a position where I can ride to my potential, we can be in the mix. However, we’re still struggling a lot in the race—and only in the race—given that we started from second position both at Misano and on this track. Today, something wasn’t working on the bike, and it went just like it did in the Riviera. We brought it home because we had to, but I couldn’t ride the way I know how and the way we’ve shown over these past two weekends. There’s definitely some regret about that.”
The situation in the garage of the team from Rome isn’t looking too bright. The potential is undeniable, but far less certain is the reason behind the issues that continue to affect Michael’s race performance.
“We haven’t found an explanation,” he admitted. “It isn't easy, and we’re kind of feeling our way through with the team. We’ll see what happens, but we don’t really understand it, otherwise, we wouldn’t have these problems. I also have a bit of a hard time guiding the team, because the bike is different from the Superbike. So, what I explain to them might be a bit different from what a stock bike can give me. Like I said, I’m sure that, if we can get the feel and have no problems, we’re in the mix, because we’ve already proven it. In the end, though, what matters is the checkered flag, and, today, just like at Misano, we saw it a bit too late, unfortunately.”
It was a real race for survival. “Absolutely, right from turn one,” he commented. “We’ll try again on Sunday, even if it rains. But doing a test to head in the right direction is going to be important, because it goes well sometimes and other times it goes badly, but, in both cases, we don’t know why. In my opinion, that’s the main problem we have right now.”
Does it weigh on you that you no longer have anyone to compare yourself to after the team split from Ruiu?
“No, because even during the weekend at Misano, he had different kinds of problems than I did. Besides, we can’t even make real comparisons, because the electronics we have aren’t as sophisticated as those in the Superbike or the MotoGP. So, we don’t have the tools or resources that would allow us to fix this bike," Rinaldi replied. "Plus, the team has little experience with this Ducati, and that makes a bit of a difference when problems arise.”