Breaking news

World Superbike

Rinaldi replaces Davies in Ducati's 2021 WSBK line-up

Michael Ruben Rinaldi will replace Chaz Davies in Ducati’s factory line-up for the 2021 World Superbike line-up, it has been announced.

Rachit Thukral

Edited: Oct 14, 2020, 11:44 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Team Goeleven, Chaz Davies, ARUBA.IT Racing Ducati

Davies has been a part of Ducati’s WSBK fold since 2014, but question marks were being raised about his future with the Italian marque after he was outperformed by first Alvaro Bautista last year and then Scott Redding in 2020.

This has coincided with a strong second full-season campaign for Rinaldi, who claimed his maiden WSBK triumph at Aragon last month with the Go Eleven privateer team.

The Italian is currently the top independent rider in the standings in seventh place, one position and 31 points clear of the Ten Kate Yamaha of Loris Baz.

Ahead of this year’s season finale at Estoril, it was announced that Rinaldi will take the second seat at Ducati next year alongside Redding, who is on a two-year deal with the Italian marque.

“We’re pleased to welcome Michael Ruben Rinaldi to the official team,” Ducati Corse’s General Manager Gigi Dall’Igna said.

“This year, Michael has shown great competitiveness, crowned by the Aragon victory, and has always been fighting for top positions. We believe that the time has come for him to join the official team and we are convinced that he has a bright future ahead of him.”

The announcement leaves an uncertain future for Davies, who argued earlier that month that Ducati should not just consider results but also recognise his role in turning the marque into a WSBK title contender while deciding its rider line-up for 2021.

“I want to thank Chaz, who has been an excellent ambassador for our brand over the past seven years and has achieved some very important results with us: 27 victories plus another 59 podium finishes and three consecutive second places in the World Championship,” Dall’Igna said.

“We will try to close our adventure together in the best way during the next race weekend in Estoril.”

Redding remains in mathematical contention of the 2020 WSBK title heading into Estoril, although Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea is likely to seal a sixth consecutive title as early as the first race of the weekend.

Davies sits third in the championship with a round to spare, 59 points behind teammate Redding.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Granado to make World Superbike debut with Honda

Next article Haslam retains Honda World Superbike seat for 2021

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

Formula 1

Exclusive video: Christian Horner interview on his Red Bull exit, Mercedes rivalry and more

M-Sport’s 2027 WRC Fiesta Kit car breaks cover

WRC

WRC WRC 1 h

M-Sport’s 2027 WRC Fiesta Kit car breaks cover

Why Bathurst 1000 has lost its international flavour

Supercars

Bathurst 1000

Why Bathurst 1000 has lost its international flavour

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts