A three-time WorldSBK race winner as a factory Ducati rider, Rinaldi will leave the team at the end of this season as soon-to-be WorldSSP champion Bulega wil♈l step up to replace him.

Rinaldi has often been the best factory rider behind the ‘titanic trio’ of Alvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea since 2021, however, inconsi🐟stent performances has also been ver♛y prominent.

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Rinaldi’s pace at t﷽imes in 2023 has been on par with the top three in the championship, but the results don’t match the pace shown as he’s accumulated just six podiums.

Although it’s a ve♚ry high benchmark, Rinaldi has also failed to get to grips with the performance shown by Bautista, with the series leader winning 19 races to Rinaldi’s zero.&n🏅bsp;

Granted, winning races was never Ducati’s requirement of Rinaldi given the talent of Bautista, bu𒅌t with the Italian only seventh in the standings and faltering on too many occasion🍸s, looking elsewhere for 2024 began to materialise fairly quickly this season.

Speak🌊ing to , Rinaldi now feels as though the pressure is off after admitting he’s made too many errors.

"I’m enjoying the current situation and riding my D𒅌ucati. Every time I ride [the bike] it will be one less [race]. 

"The three years in the Ducati factory team were a very importa▨nt phase in my life as an Italian. 

"That's why I try to collect as many impressions as possible and don't 🔯think about contracts. Maybe I should have approached it earlier, but I always wanted to show off my speed - and that's why I made mistakes. 

"♏Now I have nothing to lose and can therefore enjoy it. If I win another race, it🦂 would be great. 

"If I come second, that's ok𒅌ay too. It wasn't like that before. Because when you wear these colours, you have to perform."