WSBK Aragon Round: Rea takes 100th victory; Ducati limit damage

The first meeting of the 2021 WorldSBK season took place at MotorLand Aragon this weekend. Tricky conditions added an unknown quantity to the Sunday races, but it was reigning champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who proved to be the most consistent over the weekend.

After adding yet another record to his name by taking his 100^th victory in Race 1, he doubled up with a win in the Superpole Race and concluded the meeting with runner-up spot in Race 2. The world was in order for the Kawasaki Racing Team as his teammate Alex Lowes too secured three podiums.

The weekend looked to turn into a disaster for Ducati at what historically is one of their strongest tracks with no rostrum finishes in the opening two races. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) limited the damage by making a bold tyre choice and storming to a spectacular victory in Race 2.

RACE 1

Rea took the lead from pole with his teammate Lowes shadowing him. The duo immediately started to stretch away from a chasing group of four with Redding, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK).

While Gerloff gradually lost touch, Razgatlioglu on the softer tyre found pace and claimed Redding. The Yamaha rider was able to create a gap which cued Davies to sit up his former teammate to stay within contention.

With 10 laps left to go, Rea began to put daylight between himself and Lowes who fell into the clutches of Razgatlioglu and Davies. Further behind, Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) got up to speed mid-race and was swarming all over Redding for fifth.

Razgatlioglu and Davies caught Lowes with eight laps remaining and the Yamaha swiftly moved up into second. However, the trio stayed close together and entering the late stages of the race, Razgatlioglu’s tyres started to fade.

While Rea out front was in cruise control on the way to his 100^th victory, Lowes and Razgatlioglu exchanged punches and positions, allowing Redding and Bautista to close back in on the group.

Redding took revenge on Davies on the penultimate lap and claimed the Welshman through T16 and 17. Bautista’s race meanwhile came to a premature end at T2 of the final lap when a crash forced him to retire. Razgatlioglu and Lowes continued to battle it out and the latter won a drag race to the line, making it a Kawasaki 1-2.

SUPERPOLE RACE

The weather conditions threw an early spanner into the sprint race works with a damp track and ace direction declaring the race wet. Different tyre choices throughout the field saw both factory Kawasakis, Davies, Razgatlioglu and Gerloff start on intermediate tyres while Redding was on full wets.

Redding challenged Rea at the start and the pair swapped positions multiple times. The Ducati rider managed to stay in front, but his lead was short lived as the wet tyres faded from the get-go. Rea claimed P1 and immediately started to pull out an advantage over Lowes in second.

As the track continued to dry, Davies and Gerloff came into force and battled it out for third with the American prevailing. Behind them, Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who had taken a gamble and started the race on slick tyres, was now the fastest rider on track and had made his way up to fifth.

Redding kept dropping positions and had to surrender to Razgatlioglu and Bautista. The Brit fell dangerously close to the clutches of Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) but managed to stay ahead in eighth to salvage some points.

Unfazed in the lead, Rea was firmly on track for his second win of the weekend, Gerloff started a late charge on Lowes, but the Kawasaki rider responded to secure runner-up and another 1-2 finish for his team. Van der Mark was reeling in Davies, but it was too little too late for the Dutchman.

RACE 2

The track remained damp for the final race on Sunday, leading yet again to varying tyre choices on the grid. On the front row, both factory Kawasakis and Gerloff started on intermediates while behind them Davies opted for a wet front/intermediate rear combination, Razgatlioglu and van der Mark were on inters and Redding chose slicks.

Rea took the lead at the lights with Gerloff and Lowes shadowing him closely. Razgatlioglu and van der Mark were in hot pursuit, but Davies took himself out of contention with a crash at T7 on the opening lap.

With 16 laps left Gerloff lunged down Rea’s inside to overtake, but the American misjudged the manoeuvre, pushing Rea wide and going down himself. Rea just about managed to stay upright and re-joined the track in the lead. However, since the off track excursion forced him to cut a corner, he dropped down to fourth to avoid a time penalty.

After a cautious start on slicks, Redding now closed in on the leading group. With 13 laps remaining, he swiftly made his way up the order and hit the front, immediately stretching out a gap on the increasingly dry track.

Van der Mark headed the chasing pack which expanded to five riders as Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) reeled the in. Sykes made short shrift of a struggling Razgatlioglu while Rea claimed top of the group with six left laps to go and had the hammer down to cement P2.

Redding’s tyre gamble paid off as he took his first win of the weekend by almost 10 seconds ahead of Rea. Behind them, Lowes had put a couple of bike lengths between himself and the BMWs to secure the final podium spot while Sykes had the upper hand over his teammate.