Rea edges Bautista to top Aragon test

Jonathan Rea got much-needed motivation going into the last phase of the 2023 WorldSBK Championship season after topping the timesheets during the in-season test at MotorLand Aragon.

Rea returned to his KRT Kawasaki ZX-10RR after handing it to WorldSSP rider Adrian Huertas for a day and turned in a time of 1 minute, 49.101 seconds, which put him just under a tenth faster than the rest of the riders.

On the other side of the slim time gap was championship leader Bautista on the Aruba.It Ducati psyching himself up for his final bid to win a second consecutive championship with the factory squad.

Danilo Petrucci finished a successful test in third place on the Barni Spark Ducati Panigale V4 R after breaking the lap record on Tuesday and matching Bautista’s pace.

Alex Lowes’ works Kawasaki was wedged between HRC Honda teammates Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge in fourth and sixth, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who appears to be looking for a new ride for next season, following in seventh.

Michael van der Mark led Bonovo teammate Garrett Gerloff in an eighth and ninth place finish for BMW. Scott Redding and Loris Baz were just behind them with identical lap times.

Tetsuta Nagashima, a test rider for HRC and the overall winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours, finished impressively in 12th, just a tenth behind Baz.

2023 WorldSBK Championship | August In-Season Testing Results | MotorLand Aragon, Spain