Rea unleashes devastating pace to top final pre-season WorldSBK test at Aragon

Jonathan Rea lays down a serious marker ahead of this weekend’s 2022 WorldSBK season-opener in Aragon, after finishing close to four tenths clear of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista.

Robert Jones

05 Apr 2022

It was also Rea who led most of the session with a lap time that was close to six tenths slower than his FP5 effort.

A 1:49.500s put the Kawasaki rider half a tenth clear of Bautista, while Garrett Gerloff was a further two tenths back in third.

With 15 minutes remaining Gerloff looked set to go fastest after posting a purple sector three, but the American remained third after losing time in S4. Still, the GRT Yamaha rider improved to go within a tenth of Rea.

Moments later and Rea’s top time was beaten but this time by Bautista. The Aruba.it Ducati rider set a time of 1:49.437s.

It was at that moment that Rea came back out of pit lane and responded with a stunning time of 1:48.714s - seven tenths quicker than Bautista - also the best lap of the test.

With just over five minutes to go, reigning world champion Razgatlioglu went second, however, Rea still led by close to five tenths.

Bautista then managed to split the top two riders from 2021 with a time of 1:49.093s - +0.380s down on his former 2019 rival.

A strong day for Loris Baz continued as he once again ran comfortably inside the top six.

The top three saw a late change as Razgatlioglu got back ahead of Bautista, while Gerloff, Andrea Locatelli and Baz rounded out the top six.

World Superbike Test Aragon, Spain - Free Practice Results (Final)
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	1:48.714s
2	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	+0.354s
3	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+0.380s
4	Garrett Gerloff	USA	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+0.521s
5	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	+1.117s
6	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+1.229s
7	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+1.257s
8	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+1.296s
9	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+1.372s
10	Scott Redding	GBR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+1.390s
11	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+1.398s
12	Ilya Mikhalchik	UKR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+1.784s
13	Eugene Laverty	IRL	Bonovo Action BMW	+1.924s
14	Roberto Tamburini	ITA	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+1.942s
15	Kohta Nozane	JPN	GRT Yamaha	+1.969s
16	Michael Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+2.092s
17	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+2.142s
18	Lucas Mahias	FRA	Puccetti Kawasaki	+2.324s
19	Luca Bernardi	SM	Barni Spark Ducati Team	+3.063s
20	Gabriele Ruiu	ITA	Bmax Racing	+3.289s
21	Christophe Ponsson	FRA	Gil Motor Sport Yamaha	+3.429s
22	Hafizh Syahrin	MAL	MIE Honda Racing	+3.598s
23	Oliver Konig	CZE	Orelac Racing Kawasaki	+4.015s
24	Loris Cresson	BEL	Pedercini Kawasaki	+4.820s

Unable to match his team-mate's impressive pace throughout pre-season testing, Michael Rinaldi was down in P16 come the end of FP6.

For the second test in succession Leandro Mercardo lost major track-time - issues with his CBR1000RR-R was the problem in Catalunya - in Aragon, the Argentine rider was 17th in FP4 before a crash at turn two resulted in the MIE Honda Racing rider not taking to the track again.

Free Practice 5

For the second straight day six-time WorldSBK champion Rea bettered the official race lap record in Aragon.

Rea managed to do so by snatching top spot away from main rival after Razgatlioglu led most of the FP5.

After topping FP4, Bautista was no match for Rea and Razgatlioglu following the pair’s intense duel for top spot.

Both riders exchanged top spot on several occasions before a time of 1:49.268s saw the Pata Yamaha man move four tenths clear.

Rea managed to reduce that margin on his very next lap, however, the gap remained over three tenths.

Then came a surprise…

Baz shot up the leaderboard to go second quickest after it appeared BMW were once again struggling. The former MotoGP rider went +0.115s off Razgatlioglu’s time.

An impressive turn of pace from the former Kawasaki and Yamaha rider, who was also the quickest BMW rider on day-one.

With ten minutes remaining Gerloff jumped ahead of Rea for third, while GoEleven Ducati rider Philipp Oettl was displaced by Iker Lecuona as the top rookie in ninth, after the German took that honour in FP4.

But as the seconds wound down, Rea set the first sub 1m 49s lap of the two-day test to go top - a lap time that was enough to put three tenths between him and Razgatlioglu.

Rea’s effort also means he’s gone under the existing race lap record - set by himself - for the second consecutive day.

Free Practice 4

Bautista started off the final day of WorldSBK testing in Aragon fastest from day-one pacesetter Rea.

Bautista, who was more than six tenths down on expected 2022 title rivals Rea and Razgatlioglu during day-one, posted a solid time of 1:50.097s to go quickest in FP4.

Rea managed to pit Gerloff to second, with the latter continuing to impress ahead of what’s a big 2022 season.

An eight-time winner around the MotorLand Aragon Circuit, Rea set a time quicker than the official race lap record on Monday, as did reigning world champion Razgatlioglu.

The Pata Yamaha rider started day-two with a sixth place finish - eight tenths down on the Aruba.it Ducati rider.

While Ducati, Kawasaki and Yamaha continue to look strong, Honda, who were very impressive in Catalunya, sat out the session with both its factory riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge.

Replaced once again by Ukrainian rider Ilya Michalchik, Michael Van Der Mark has officially been ruled out of this weekend’s season-opener.

Van Der Mark, who suffered a recent mountain bike accident, said: "It has been a difficult decision but unfortunately I will not try to ride at MotorLand Aragón.

"At this moment we have to be smart and stay calm because this is the only way forward in my recovery.

"I really miss working with the team and riding my BMW M 1000 RR but right now my goal is to be fit again as soon as possible."