[WSBK] Aragon, J2, Race 1: Seventh victory in seven races for Álvaro Bautista

This Saturday marked a historic day for Jonathan Rea with his 250th start in the Superbike World Championship. He is fifth in this attendance ranking behind Troy Corser (377), Noriyuki Haga (313), Pierfrancesco Chili (276) and Tom Sykes (266th start this Saturday).

According to Jonathan Rhea, who are " Motorland is a good place to pick up. I like the layout of the track and we made good progress last year during winter testing. We will continue to work to make more progress in the races. The layout is pleasant and fluid, with many challenges at every turn. It is therefore crucial to configure the race correctly. It's an important race for my team too, as their headquarters is a few hours away, in Granollers, near Barcelona. I count on a lot of support and I'm happy to give it my all ».

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), which has a very good track record here, with seven victories and three additional podiums, is ready to give him the answer. The last 12 victories in Aragón have all been won by Brits. Since Race 1 in 2014, the winners have been Chaz Davies (7 times), Jonathan Rea (3 times) and Tom Sykes (2 times). They took over from Italy, who had won the first four races here with Marco Melandri and Max Biaggi, with two successes each.

On the transalpine side, given the current form ofAlvaro Bautista, Ducati sees here its first chance to reach the milestone of 350 victories in WorldSBK. The Italian firm's track record currently stands at 347.

The leader of the World Championship, Alvaro Bautista, came with Chaz Davies and their Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team to participate in two days of testing, on March 21 and 22, in Alcañiz. Suffice to say that the Panigales are well adjusted. For Bautista, “ After Thailand we had time to rest before my home race and I am looking forward to it because I want to enjoy my WSBK championship round with all the Spanish fans.”

“I think that six consecutive victories have contributed to the notoriety of Superbikes in Spain and I am happy because I think I am contributing to the growth of the Championship, but this obviously means that my expectations are higher. Even though we had a positive test here, Aragón is a new track for this bike, but as always I will try to concentrate. The goal is exactly the same, we have to work to make the bike as competitive as possible and then we will see what happens ».

Moriwaki Althea Honda confirmed that Leon Camier would not need surgery for his injured knee. According to the Englishman, “ Over the last two weeks I have been doing a lot of physical therapy and light training. Aragón is a technically and physically demanding circuit, with a long straight and many types of corners and difficult braking zones. But I'm happy because Aragón is a home race for me because I live in Andorra ". On the other hand, we will have an affective thought for Thitipong Warokorn (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team) who had 6 fractured vertebrae during the same accident.

On the side of Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) « I'm glad we're back in Europe. Aragón is an excellent track that I really like. It's definitely a little easier for me because I've raced there a few times. Last year my times were very fast in Superstock. With my qualifying time, I would have even been in the top eight in Superbikes. I hope the weather will be nice and not too windy. I also hope that we can take another step forward in my preparation so that I can have a better feeling going forward. So a good weekend is possible. My team leader and the whole team have analyzed the findings from Buriram in depth, and I know that BMW will bring certain things to Spain. It is important to work well all weekend, constantly improve, give good feedback and work together. I hope we can make the top ten and I can reward my team for their hard work ».

Superpole for Álvaro Bautista

Three hours before race 1, the starting grid was determined by the superpole dominated by Álvaro Bautista with a new record in 1'49.049. Sandro Cortese joined him on the front row at 0.365 and Tom Sykes at 0.508. The second line consisted of Alex Lowes, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Eugene Laverty. Jonathan Rea had to settle for tenth time.

Undefeated Bautista

The fastest at the start was Álvaro bautista, ahead of Tom Sykes, Alex Lowes, Sandro Cortese, Chaz Davies and Johnny Rea. Bautista tried to gain a slight advantage but Sykes followed him at first without much difficulty, then he was overtaken by alex lowes and his Yamaha.

Bautista extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Lowes, Sykes and Rea was already back in fourth position after overtaking Chaz Davies. The reigning World Champion was gradually making his way back and Bautista was pushing ahead to avoid being caught by the Northern Irishman.

Rea managed to move up to second position, but he was already 4.6 behind Bautista. A very good fight for this second position opposed Rea, Davies, Lowes, van der Mark, Laverty, Sykes and Cortese.

As Bautista extended his advantage to 6.1, Davies took second position ahead of Rea, Lowes, Laverty, van der Mark, Sykes and Cortese. The fight was very intense between Davies and Rea, right in front of Lowes.

Bautista maintained a high pace in first position, more than 9 seconds ahead of Rea and Davies.

At the halfway mark, Ducati occupied the first two places with Bautista ahead of Davies, while the Kawasaki of Rea preceded the Yamahas of Lowes and van der Mark. Bautista maintained a very consistent pace in 1'50, being the only one to ride under 1'51.

The seven drivers battling behind him for second place were all 1'51s, including Rea, Lowes, Davies, van der Mark, Laverty, Cortese and Sykes. Leon Haslam was significantly further back in ninth position at 21 seconds, narrowly ahead of Jordi Torres and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

14 seconds behind Bautista, second place was a superb fight between Lowes, Davies and Rea. The last (and only) Spanish winner in WorldSBK on home soil was Ruben Xaus in Valencia in 2007.

If in the very last laps, Bautista was not threatened with a 15 second lead, Davies on the other hand had a lot to do with Rea who overtook him two laps from the checkered flag.

Bautista finally won by a wide margin, the second step on the podium narrowly went to Rea ahead of Davies while Eugene Laverty fell without seriousness on the very last lap! Lowes finished fourth ahead of Sykes, van der Mark, Cortese and Razgatlioglu.

Ranking of Race 1:

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

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