After a gloomier start to the day, the sun came out in Aragón to accompany the first WorldSBK practice session at MotorLand, with Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider Chaz Davies taking top honours after the first hour on track. The Welshman has a fantastic record at the aragonese track and is only one point shy of Marco Melandri in being the most successful WorldSBK rider at MotorLand.

Honda’s Nicky Hayden, who has previously been on the MotoGP podium in Aragon and knows the track well, set the second fastest time and showed yet more progress as he moves to the WorldSBK paddock and gets up to speed. His teammate Michael van der Mark kept his incredible 2016 form in fine order in P3, just ahead of reigning Champion Jonathan Rea in P4.

Yamaha’s Alex Lowes was 5^th, making the returning Japanese manufacturer the 4^th manufacturer in the top 5, ahead of Tom Sykes, who lead the majority of the session until a time attack near the end saw the times tumbling and fast laps coming in from much of the field.

Local riders Xavi Forés (Ducati) and Jordi Torres (BMW) were both inside the top ten in the first session, with Torres just inching out his Althea teammate Markus Reiterberger. Leon Camier kept MV Agusta in the top ten with an impressive showing for the Italian factory in ninth, and Savadori proved the fastest Aprilia rider in 15^th. The rookie and reigning STK1000 Champion made successful first contact with the track on his new machine as teammate Alex De Angelis comes back from surgery before the Round, with the San Marino rider set to have been reviewed after the session and subsequently declared fit to race.

FP2 proves the final chance for riders to gain access to Tissot-Superpole 2, with lights out at 13:30 local time (GMT +2).