Difficult weather conditions and tyre choices dominated the Tissot Superpole Race for the Pirelli Aragon Round at MotorLand Aragon as the second race of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) holding off an early challenge in the 10-lap race to claim his 101st WorldSBK victory.
Redding got the holeshot from the front row to lead from Rea into Turn 1, although he ran wide allowing Rea back through. For the first couple of laps, Redding, Rea and Lowes engaged in a battle for the lead, although the intermediate tyres for Kawasaki gave them the advantage mid-way through the second lap.
It enabled both Rea and Lowes to get ahead of Redding to take another KRT 1-2 in Aragon, repeating the result from yesterday’s Race 1 to claim Kawasaki’s 160th WorldSBK victory, and the first time Kawasaki have started a season with two consecutive 1-2 finishes. The battle for third burst into life on Lap 4 with Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) battling for the final podium spot; the American passing Davies at the final corner on Lap 4 to secure his fourth WorldSBK podium and tying with the late, great Nicky Hayden in terms of WorldSBK podiums. The result means Rea will start from pole in Race 2, with Lowes and Gerloff on the front row and Davies in fourth place.
Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) secured a top five start for Race 2 with fifth place, battling through the field despite starting on the Pirelli SCX tyres; coming through the field as the track dried more. Van der Mark was 19 seconds clear of former teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) in sixth, who will complete the second row in Race 2.
Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) will start in seventh place for Sunday’s Race 2, with Redding eventually coming home in eighth place, holding off the challenge from Japanese rookie Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who will complete the top nine on the grid for Race 2. Nozane’s ninth place means he secures Japan’s first top ten finish since Yuki Takahashi in 2019 in Race 1 at Misano.
There were three retirements from the race with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) the first to retire; the French rider crash on Lap 1, and while he was able to mount his bike again, he retired from the race. Samuele Cavalieri (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) retired later in the race while Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) came into the pits towards the end of the 10-lap race.
