Superbike – Championship: Rea and Kawasaki show their intentions

The reigning World Champions did not betray their status as favorites by winning two of the first three races of the season. The gap could have been even greater with Scott Redding, if a racing incident had not interfered with it during Race 2.

And say that the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR returns 1500 rpm to the Ducati Panigale V4 R… A handicap which was not felt at all during the weekend, despite the recriminations of the Japanese clan and their number 1 driver, Jonathan Rhea.

Instead of being in difficulty, the defending champion set a new lap record at Motorland Aragón, during the Superpole on Saturday morning, with a time of 1'48.458, before achieving his 100th success in the category a few hours later.

Enough to undermine the morale of his adversaries, especially since the Northern Irishman confirmed during the Superpole Race. He could very well have achieved the pass of three during Race 2, if he had not been harpooned by a reckless Garrett gerloff.

The fact remains that with two victories – accompanied by as many doubles, alex lowes having done the job by finishing second to his teammate each time – and a double podium in the last event, Kawasaki once again acts as the dominant force in this opening of the championship.

Redding saves the furniture

Rea thus prances at the top of the ranking, 12 units ahead of Lowes, while Scott Redding limits the damage behind to 17 points. A real little miracle for the Ducati rider, who fell short during the first part of the weekend, but who was able to remobilize and above all take advantage of a daring tire strategy in Race 2 to snatch his sixth victory in the category.

Behind this leading trio is Toprak Razgatlioglu. The Turkish driver was attractive in this first round, finishing the first day of free practice with the best time. His podium during Race 1 and his points accumulated during the other events allow him to settle in fourth position, a good starting point for this season.

The Yamaha rider is ahead Tom Sykes, who struggled to convert his good intentions displayed during the Superpole, where he was installed on the first row of the grid. With his best result from this location being sixth place in Race 1, it was paradoxically during Race 2, in which he started tenth, that he showed his greatest advantage.

Disappointment for Davies

The 2013 World Champion thus occupies fifth place overall, ahead of Gerloff and his teammate at BMW Michael van der Mark. Chaz Davies was somewhat disappointing this weekend, despite the best time during EL2. A false pretense, the conditions encountered during this session not having been representative of those observed the rest of the weekend.

Further down the hierarchy we find Alvaro Bautista in 13th place. The Spaniard had a complicated first round, including a fall during the Superpole then during Race 1. He was ahead Lucas Mahias who, after a sluggish start to the weekend, was able to shine during Race 2 by securing a top 10. Christophe Ponsson took his first point during this same event, in which he finished 15th.

In the manufacturers' championship, Kawasaki is of course in the lead with 57 points, 13 units ahead of Ducati and 24 over Yamaha. BMW and Honda bring up the rear.

Superbike now has an appointment next weekend for the second round of the season, which will be raced in Estoril.

Ranking – Drivers’ Championship:

 

Ranking – Constructors’ Championship:

 

Ranking – Team Championship:

Credit classification and photos: WorldSBK.com