Aragon WSBK: Rea leads Kawasaki 1-2 in damp Superpole race
Kawasaki star Jonathan Rea led World Superbike teammate Alex Lowes in a damp Superpole race at Aragon, as Scott Redding finished down in eighth after a failed gamble on full wet tyres.
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Redding got the holeshot from second on the grid to take the lead into Turn 1, only for polesitter Rea to fight back and snatch the top spot at the following corner.
Redding, Rea and Lowes continued to battle for the remainder of the opening lap, with each of the trio enjoying brief stints at the front.
Redding ended lap 1 in the lead but soon began to struggle on his wet tyres, allowing first Rea and then Lowes to surge ahead.
Once out in front, the Kawasakis edged ahead of the remainder of the field, with Rea eventually claiming his 101st WSBK race win by 3.506s from Lowes to secure pole position for the final race of the weekend.
After losing the lead at the start of lap 2, Redding continued to drop down the order, crossing the finish line in a disappointing eight position with a fastest lap that was three seconds slower than Rea’s best time.
Redding’s struggles promoted the GRT Yamaha of Garrett Gerloff to the final spot on the podium, the American rider charging from 10th at the end of the opening lap on slick tyres.
Chaz Davies finished as the top Ducati rider in fourth on the GoEleven Panigale V4 R, while new BMW recruit Michael van der Mark rose up the order on dry-weather tyres to take fifth at the flag.
Both Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and lead Honda rider Alvaro Bautista demoted Redding at the chicane with four laps to go to claim sixth and seventh positions respectively, the two separated by just 0.223s at the finish.
One-time MotoGP starter Kohta Nozane made it three Yamaha bikes in the points with a ninth place finish on the GRT-run R1, as Leon Haslam rounded out the top 10 on the second of the factory Hondas.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi was classified 11th on the works Ducati, while BMW’s Tom Sykes retired from the race after struggling on full wets having started on the front row.
Superpole race results:
Cla | # | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 |
Jonathan Rea
|
Kawasaki | 19'47.979 | |
2 | 22 |
Alex Lowes
|
Kawasaki | 19'51.485 | 3.506 |
3 | 31 |
Garrett Gerloff
|
Yamaha | 19'53.030 | 5.051 |
4 | 7 |
Chaz Davies
|
Ducati | 19'56.887 | 8.908 |
5 | 60 |
Michael van der Mark
|
BMW | 19'58.154 | 10.175 |
6 | 54 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu
|
Yamaha | 20'17.321 | 29.342 |
7 | 19 |
Alvaro Bautista
|
Honda | 20'17.544 | 29.565 |
8 | 45 |
Scott Redding
|
Ducati | 20'21.340 | 33.361 |
9 | 3 |
Kohta Nozane
|
Yamaha | 20'21.654 | 33.675 |
10 | 91 |
Leon Haslam
|
Honda | 20'22.750 | 34.771 |
11 | 21 |
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
|
Ducati | 20'24.430 | 36.451 |
12 | 55 |
Andrea Locatelli
|
Yamaha | 20'26.688 | 38.709 |
13 | 94 |
Jonas Folger
|
BMW | 20'29.167 | 41.188 |
14 | 53 |
Tito Rabat
|
Ducati | 20'39.954 | 51.975 |
15 | 32 |
Isaac Viñales
|
Kawasaki | 20'40.623 | 52.644 |
16 | 50 |
Eugene Laverty
|
BMW | 20'40.891 | 52.912 |
17 | 47 |
Axel Bassani
|
Ducati | 20'55.308 | 1'07.329 |
18 | 36 |
Leandro Mercado
|
Honda | 21'03.583 | 1'15.604 |
19 | 23 |
Christophe Ponsson
|
Yamaha | 21'04.438 | 1'16.459 |
20 | 84 |
Loris Cresson
|
Kawasaki | 21'05.084 | 1'17.105 |
66 |
Tom Sykes
|
BMW | 3 laps | ||
76 |
Samuele Cavalieri
|
Kawasaki | 7 laps | ||
44 |
Lucas Mahias
|
Kawasaki | 8 laps | ||
View full results |
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