Sylvain Barrier dominates STK1000 Aragon race
Sylvain Barrier concludes the first battle of his FIM Superstock 1000 Cup Title defence campaign in the best way by winning the 12-lap race at Alcaniz MotorLand Aragon. The BMW Motorrad GoldBet rider, after he got the lead from Niccolò Canepa (Barni Racing Ducati) on lap 3 at Turn 16, down the long straight, rode comfortably and kept a pace quick enough not to let the former WSBK rider close the gap.
Barrier's 6th win in the series completes the perfect weekend for the French youngster, who has proved once again to be the man to beat in 2013, following yesterday's pole position. The STK1000 comeback for Niccolò Canepa proved to be a successful one: the experienced rider from Genova led the early part of the race and tried not to lose contact with Barrier, but the lack of horsepower on the straight didn't help his mission.
3rd rider on the podium was Argentinian Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini Kawasaki), back for a full Superstock 1000 with some great confidence shown on track. Wasted opportunity for Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki), who early on during the race was closing the gap with the front but, due to a small mistake that pushed him back to 10th place, was forced to make his way back to a final 4th, snatched from Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Ducati) on the last lap thanks to an overtaking manoeuvre at Turn 16 - and a 0.040 seconds margin on the finish line.
Potential podium finisher Lorenzo Savadori (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) lost control of his ZX-10R on lap 7, while he was on 3rd position and closing the gap to the front. Ironically, the Italian has set the new lap record of the Spanish track in 2'01.074, on the third lap.
