Jonathan Rea Second In First Race At Motorland Aragon

The first of two FIM Superbike World Championship races at Motorland Aragon this weekend saw official KRT rider Jonathan Rea and team-mate Tom Sykes go second and third respectively, after 18-laps around the impressive 5.077km circuit.  The race was won by Chaz Davies (Ducati).

 

Rea started from fifth place, on the second row of the grid, after the early morning Superpole qualifying, whilst Sykes claimed pole position.

Sykes led for the first three laps but was passed by eventual race winner Davies, and then Rea, who would hold onto second place.

 

Rea had evaluated some new set-ups on Friday but went back to a more conventional setting today, using Superpole to make his final selections for the first race itself. After finding feel and feedback in the early laps he moved forward to his eventual second place result and finished 4.168 seconds from the win.

 

This fifth race of the season delivered podium finish number five for Rea, who has not finished lower than second so far.

 

In the overnight championship points table, before race two plays out at 13.00 local time tomorrow, Rea has 115 points, Sykes 82 and Davies is now third with 80.

 

Jonathan Rea stated: “I am satisfied because if you cannot win you should finish second. Today we did that at a track that has been really strong for Chaz in the past. In the beginning of the race I was still understanding the bike because the first time we had used our complete race set-up was in Superpole. I was learning in the early laps. This morning we went back to more like what we had before. Now we need a bit more grip and to improve things under braking for tomorrow. We can go back and understand my rhythm now and take things from there to make the bike even better. I know we can be closer tomorrow.”

Pole position : Tom Sykes - 1m 49.374 - 167.107 km/h
Fastest lap : Chaz Davies - 1m 50.421 - 165.523 km/h
Circuit record lap : 2016 Chaz Davies - 1m 50.421 - 165.523 km/h
Circuit Best Lap : 2016 Tom Sykes - 1m 49.374
Temperature : Air 15°C / Track 30°C
Humidity : 41% 

Event results - Round 3 - Race 1
1 Chaz Davies 33m 31.464 GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
2 Jonathan Rea 4.168 GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
3 Tom Sykes 4.948 GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Xavi Fores 12.723 ESP DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
5 Davide Giugliano 13.151 ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
6 Nicky Hayden 21.117 USA HONDA Honda World Superbike Team
7 Jordi Torres 22.112 ESP BMW Althea BMW Racing Team
8 Alex Lowes 25.575 GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
9 Sylvain Guintoli 28.941 FRA YAMAHA Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team
10 Lorenzo Savadori 34.956 ITA APRILIA IodaRacing Team
11 Alex De Angelis 35.075 RSM APRILIA IodaRacing Team
12 Roman Ramos 37.310 ESP KAWASAKI Team Go Eleven
13 Joshua Brookes 37.442 AUS BMW Milwaukee BMW
14 Markus Reiterberber 37.731 GER BMW Althea BMW Racing Team
15 Karel Abraham 52.270 CZE BMW Milwaukee BMW
16 Sylvain Barrier 56.295 FRA KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
17 Matthieu Lussiana 1m 07.602 FRA BMW Team ASPI
18 Dominic Schmitter 1m 35.691 SUI KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
19 Peter Sebestyen 1m 35.746 HUN YAMAHA Team Toth
20 Imre Toth 1 Lap HUN YAMAHA Team Toth
21 Saeed Al Sulaiti DNF QAR KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
22 Matteo Baiocco DNF ITA DUCATI VFT Racing
23 Josh Hook DNF AUS KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
24 Leon Camier DNF GBR MV AGUSTA MV Agusta Reparto Corse
25 Michael van der Mark DNF NED HONDA Honda World Superbike Team

 

Championship standings
1 Jonathan Rea 131 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
2 Chaz Davies 105 pts GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
3 Tom Sykes 102 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Michael van der Mark 74 pts NED HONDA Honda World Superbike Team
5 Davide Giugliano 56 pts ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
6 Jordi Torres 53 pts ESP BMW Althea BMW Racing Team
7 Sylvain Guintoli 53 pts FRA YAMAHA Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team
8 Nicky Hayden 41 pts USA HONDA Honda World Superbike Team
9 Markus Reiterberber 31 pts GER BMW Althea BMW Racing Team
10 Xavi Fores 28 pts ESP DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
11 Alex Lowes 27 pts GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
12 Alex De Angelis 25 pts RSM APRILIA IodaRacing Team
13 Roman Ramos 25 pts ESP KAWASAKI Team Go Eleven
14 Lorenzo Savadori 24 pts ITA APRILIA IodaRacing Team
15 Joshua Brookes 20 pts AUS BMW Milwaukee BMW
16 Leon Camier 19 pts GBR MV AGUSTA MV Agusta Reparto Corse
17 Karel Abraham 12 pts CZE BMW Milwaukee BMW
18 Matteo Baiocco 6 pts ITA DUCATI VFT Racing
19 Mike Jones 2 pts AUS DUCATI Desmo Sport Ducati
20 Sylvain Barrier 2 pts FRA KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
21 Anucha Nakcharoensri 0 pts THA YAMAHA Yamaha Thailand Racing Team
22 Sahustchai Kaewjaturapom 0 pts THA KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
23 Saeed Al Sulaiti 0 pts QAR KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
24 Peter Sebestyen 0 pts HUN YAMAHA Team Toth
25 Matthieu Lussiana 0 pts FRA BMW Team ASPI
26 Imre Toth 0 pts HUN YAMAHA Team Toth
27 Dominic Schmitter 0 pts SUI KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team