Aragon WSBK: Rea beats Bautista to win in last-lap thriller

The Kawasaki rider first overhauled reigning champion Razgatlioglu and then outgunned Ducati returnee Bautista in a battle that continued until the last corner of the final lap to clinch his 113th race win in the production-based category.

Polesitter Razgatlioglu and fellow front-row starters Bautista and Rea initially engaged in a three-way battle for victory, each enjoying stints at the front as they took advantage of the respective strengths of their bikes.

However, after both Rea and Bautista dispatched Razgatlioglu under braking for Turn 1 on lap 6, the Yamaha rider played no further role in the victory fight, ultimately leading to a last-lap showdown between the leading duo.

Bautista took advantage of the superior grunt of his Ducati to take the lead into Turn 16 that follows the long back-straight, having previously used this tactic to mixed results in the final-thirds of the race.

However, the Ulsterman saw what was coming and fired his Kawasaki inside Bautista's Ducati at the following corner, ensuring he emerged on top heading to the straight/finish straight.

Rea eventually held off Bautista in the run to the finish line, denying Bautista a winning return at Ducati by just over a tenth off a second in the season opener.

Razgatlioglu remained in striking distance of Rea and Bautista for the first 10 laps but didn't have the pace to keep up with the duo as the race wore on, dropping 1.5s behind in third at the finish.

At one point, Michael Ruben Rinaldi was circulating at the tail of the leading trio on his Ducati, but he too dropped back in the closing stages of the race, crossing the finishing line 4.7s behind in fourth.

Factory Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli slipped to seventh on the opening lap of the race but recovered to finish fifth, nearly 10s down on race winner Rea.

Both Honda riders made big gains in the early stages of the 18-lap contest to bag a strong result for the Japanese marque, with Iker Lecuona finishing sixth and Xavi Vierge charging from 13th on the grid to take seventh at the flag.

Ilya Mikhalchik continued to impress on the factory BMW as he deputised for Michael van der Mark, finishing eighth on his WSBK debut ahead of Bonovo MGM rider Loris Baz on the satellite M1000RR.

The top 10 was rounded out by Garrett Gerloff on the GRT Yamaha.

Scott Redding endured a torrid day in his first outing with BMW, finishing 24s off the top spot in 15th place after dropping to 17th in the early stages of the race.

The only notable retiree from the opening race of 2022 was Alex Lowes, who crashed his factory Kawasaki on lap 8 while running inside the top five.

Aragon WSBK - Race 1 results:

Cla	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki	33'13.308
2	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	33'13.398	0.090
3	Toprak Razgatlioglu	Yamaha	33'18.724	5.416
4	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	Ducati	33'23.580	10.272
5	Andrea Locatelli	Yamaha	33'29.075	15.767
6	Iker Lecuona	Honda	33'32.068	18.760
7	Xavi Vierge	Honda	33'34.829	21.521
8	Illia Mykhalchyk	BMW	33'34.913	21.605
9	Garrett Gerloff	Yamaha	33'35.254	21.946
10	Eugene Laverty	BMW	33'38.654	25.346
11	Loris Baz	BMW	33'39.235	25.927
12	Luca Bernardi	Ducati	33'41.768	28.460
13	Philipp Oettl	Ducati	33'42.036	28.728
14	Lucas Mahias	Kawasaki	33'42.425	29.117
15	Scott Redding	BMW	33'42.945	29.637
16	Axel Bassani	Ducati	33'44.169	30.861
17	Roberto Tamburini	Yamaha	33'44.771	31.463
18	Kohta Nozane	Yamaha	33'46.466	33.158
19	Christophe Ponsson	Yamaha	34'06.531	53.223
20	Leandro Mercado	Honda	34'09.321	56.013
21	Hafizh Syahrin	Honda	34'11.344	58.036
22	Oliver Konig	Kawasaki	34'21.345	1'08.037
23	Loris Cresson	Kawasaki	34'29.696	1'16.388
	Alex Lowes	Kawasaki	12 Laps
	Gabriele Ruiu	BMW	14 Laps
View full results