2022 World Superbike Aragon, Spain - Free Practice (2) Results

Alvaro Bautista got the better of Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu during FP2 for the Aragon World Superbike season opener.

As was the case in FP1, Rea set a brutal pace from the outset, however, the gaps to those behind were much closer.

Rea led Alvaro Bautista by three tenths - the margin back to P2 was over seven tenths at the same stage of FP1 - while Alex Lowes also got within three tenths of the six-time world champion. 

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Following his spectacular turn two crash towards the end of FP1, Lucas Mahias, although fully leathered-up and ready, remained in the garage to begin FP2. 

Although Rea’s opening stint failed to produce a time quicker than what he managed this morning, that was not the case for Bautista, Lowes and Garrett Gerloff who all found significant improvements. 

FP2 saw a very promising start for rookies Xavi Vierge and Roberto Tamburini as both riders were lapping inside the top eight.  

A long way off the pace, Pata Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli was languishing down in 14th during the early stages before making a swift return to pit lane. 

In a surprising turn of events, Ilya Michalchik was once again out-pacing his factory BMW team-mate Scott Redding. The Endurance World Championship rider went seventh quickest at the midway point. 

Unchallenged for much of the day, Rea’s top time came under intense pressure from the reigning world champion.

Razgatlioglu set his best time of the day (1:49.706s) to go just under a tenth slower than Rea. 

Bautista, who was one of the first riders to fit the SCQ (Superpole) tyre, went quickest thanks to a sector four in which he gained close to two tenths on Rea. 

While most of the field improved late on, Rea and Razgatlioglu elected not to use a brand new rear tyre, thus leaving Bautista to finish fastest.

Official Aragon WorldSBK Records 

Fastest Lap - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki 1m 48.458s. 

Most Wins - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki (8) 

2021 Aragon WorldSBK Race Winners 

Race 1 - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki

Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki

Race 2 - Scott Redding GBR Ducati 

Several new faces introduced…

In one of the biggest off-seasons for rider changes, three factory team’s have at least one new rider as Bautista has returned to Aruba.it Ducati, Redding moved to BMW and Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge make their official World Superbike debuts this weekend after joining Team HRC. 

Also making his way across from Grand Prix racing is Syharin who joined MIE Honda, while former MotoGP and MotoAmerica rider Loris Baz is making a full-time return to the series with Bonovo Action BMW. 

Replacing an injured Michael Van Der Mark, Ukrainian rider Michalchik made his World Superbike debut aboard the second factory BMW M 1000 RR bike.

In terms of other rookies, Philipp Oettl (GoEleven Ducati), Luca Bernardi (Barni Spark Ducati), Oliver Konig (Verdnatura Orelac Kawasaki) and Roberto Tamburni (Motoxracing Yamaha) all made their official debuts. 

Weekend Schedule - 2022 Aragon WorldSBK

Saturday 

08:00-08:30 - WorldSBK FP3 (UK)

10:10-10:25 - WorldSBK Superpole (UK)

13:00 - WorldSBK Race 1 (UK)

Sunday 

08:00-08:15 - WorldSBK Warm-up (UK)

10:00 - WorldSBK Superpole Race (UK) 

13:00 - WorldSBK Race 2 (UK)

Free Practice One dominated by six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea

At the start of FP1, World Superbike rookie Hafizh Syahrin created quite the image after just five minutes when his CBR1000RR-R machine let a considerable amount of smoke out under braking for turn one.

Syahrin’s MIE Honda then released smoke for a second time - same corner - which was enough for the Malaysian to abort his opening run and stop trackside. 

Starting FP1 the way he ended the two-day test, Rea was a full seven tenths clear of anyone. 

Rea, who was the only rider to set a sub 1m 50s lap during the opening stint, led from team-mate Alex Lowes and Toprak Razgatlioglu. 

Top speed issues were fairly evident early on for BMW as Scott Redding saw his former Aruba.it Ducati bike blast past him in the hands of Alvaro Bautista. 

While Kawasaki continued to control the top two spots, 3-6 were made up of two Yamahas and two Ducatis, highlighting their status as the top three manufacturers once again. 

Struggling down in P15, Redding had to avoid a front-end fall at turn five after taking too much entry speed into the left-hander. 

Running in 23rd place, Belgian rider Loris Cresson encountered a technical issue aboard his Pedercini Kawasaki which left him stranded at the corkscrew (turns 8 and 9). 

With time running down, most of the field elected not to set time attacks, instead focusing on race pace. 

With no Q1 and Q2 like in MotoGP, securing a top ten spot in practice is not as important in World Superbike, although lining-up your bike for race performance is due to having three races per weekend. 

Two riders who did improve late on were Razgatlioglu and Rinaldi. The Pata Yamaha rider looked set to challenge Rea’s top time before losing three tenths in the final sector. With regards to Rinaldi, the Italian went third fastest on a 1m 50s flat.

Kicking off his first season as a world champion, Razgatlioglu donned the #1 plate for the first time in his career and Yamaha’s first time in the world championship.