Michael Ruben Rinaldi expects his WorldSBK future to be sorted after the summer break
Rinaldi’s Aruba.it Ducati ride is the only full factory WorldSBK seat left available after Mi♛chael Van Der Mark aꦛnd Jonathan Rea recently signed new deals at BMW and Kawasaki.
Rinaldi, who is battling to retain his seat against fellow WorldSBK rider Axel Bassani and MotoAmerica star Danilo Petrucci, is in his second season with the Aruba.it Ducati outfit, first ༒alongside series leader Alvaro Bautista.
While eyes might be set on claiming Ducati’s 1000th WorldSB𝓀K podium this weekend at Most, an achievement Bautista is favoured to put his name next to given the form both have shown so far in 2022, however, for Rinaldi there’s a꧒lso the matter of addressing his future, which he claims won’t come before Magny-Cours in September.
"Our goal is to reach the podium this weekend and take the 1000th podium for Ducati," stated Rinaldi. "I know Alvaro is very fast, so maybe he will be in🥃 the statistics as the 1000th!
"My 🐲goal is to remain with this bike and this team because I♚ feel at home and I think that this bike can make me win a championship in the future. The last few rounds have helped because of the podium at Misano and the good result at Donington Park.
"We will start talking but there are no new things to s༺ay. I think at Magny-Cours, we will hav🥃e news."
Prior to securing a double podium in Misano, Rinaldi was thought to be at ris༒k of losing his seat at Ducati, and although that remains the case, improved form over the last six races from the Italian has put him in a good position to r♛emain Bautista’s team-mate in 2023.
Aegerter remains on the prowl for WorldSBK opening, preferably at Yamaha
One rider who is looking for a new se🍒at next season is current WorldSPP champion Dominique Aegerter꧒.
The Swiss rider, who could make history by winning a tenth Supersport race in succession this weekend, has made his desire to join WorldSBK known on 🍨several occasions.
And speaking ahead of the ൩weekend, Aegerter confirmed once again that his dream is to be Superbikes next season, with Yamaha.
Aegerter told WorldSBK.com: "Still my wish and dream is to move up to Superbikes, Until now we are speaking with di🐟fferent teams and for s🅺ure my dream is to be with Yamaha again, I hope in Superbike.
"If not we will keep running with the Ten Kate team in Supersport. But my manager, my brother, will keep al💃l the options open and there is still some time."
