Rinaldi: Bassani an ‘average rider, ran into me on purpose to make me crash’

Rinaldi, who has bounced back in impressive style from his tough outing at Assen, has been one of the fastest riders throughout the Catalunya WorldSBK round.

Whether it be free practice, qualifying  or the early stages of Race 1, Rinaldi looked like a firm favourite for the podium, although a win seemed too far a stretch given the performance of teammate Alvaro Bautista.

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And that’s exactly what the opening stages seemed to indicate as Bautista led from Rinaldi, whilst all the time extending his lead before Rinaldi was knocked out of the race.

Not the closest of friends prior to this weekend, Rinaldi and Bassani are locked in battle to secure the second factory seat alongside Bautista, and their battle in Barcelona seemed to indicate that tempers were reaching boiling point.

Contact was first made by Rinaldi at turn three after attempting to re-pass Bassani, before the latter clattered into Rinaldi which led to him falling at turn ten. 

Speaking after the race, Rinaldi said: "Has been a really positive weekend for me and the team because we were able to be at the top in every practice. The first time [first race start] I was able to stay with Alvaro but with a small gap and my pace was not to beat Alvaro but was for sure, second place. 

"Then the second start, I felt again that I could do the same but what happened? Well, Bassani overtook me in turn one but throughout the weekend Bassani didn’t have the pace to stay with us. If you see the race, at the end he lapped two seconds slower than the top [guys]. 

"He tried to make the first few laps of his life and I don’t know why. I overtook him, was in front and tried to follow Alvaro but then in turn ten, in the exit where you basically cannot overtake, he ran into me on purpose because he wanted to make me crash. 

"I don’t know why. Today I could have been second [position] but I went into the gravel and it was not my fault. For sure, it was not a manoeuvre of a professional rider."

Asked by WorldSBK.com if he had spoken to Bassani since the incident, a furious Rinaldi added: "He didn’t have the face to come and apologise so that makes him even worse. 

"The difference between a top rider which is Alvaro, Toprak and Johnny - when you see some overtakes they can touch but it never happened that someone ran into another rider like this. 

"This is the big difference between a top rider and an average rider."