2022 World Superbike Aragon, Spain - Free Practice (1) Results

Jonathan Rea dominates the first World Superbike practice of 2022 from world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu. 

Wasting no time at all, a full WorldSBK grid immediately headed out of pit lane with GRT Yamaha rider Garrett Gerloff the last to do so. 

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, Jonathan Rea was a full seven tenths clear of anyone. 

• Fighting talk from Rea - #1 is a borrowed number, it has to be earnt 
• Rea 'as ready as I'll ever be to start racing', Redding wants 'solutions' 
• MotoGP Austin: Marc Marquez opens up: risk of diplopia 'makes me scared'

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. 

Looking to improve his pace, Razgatlioglu made a quick return to pit lane before heading back out. However, the Yamaha rider was unable to do so, instead remaining in third place.

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 WorldSBK, 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.

There was a late fall for Lucas Mahias as the Puccetti Kawasaki man went down at turn two. 

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 

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. 

Lots of changes with new riders for 2022

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 will make their official WorldSBK 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 Ilya Michalchik made his WorldSBK 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

Friday 

14:00-14:45 - WorldSBK FP2 (UK)

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)