The Tissot Superpole Race at MotorLand Aragon was a thrilling affair in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed his first victory since San Juan 2019 in Race 1 with the race win at MotorLand Aragon. With the victory, Bautista will start Race 2 at the Pirelli Aragon from the front of the grid

STARTING RACE 2 FROM THE FRONT ROW: the top three in the Superpole Race

Once Bautista was able to hit the front, he used the power of his Ducati Panigale V4 R to maintain his lead at the front of the field as he pulled out a gap of over one second to the chasing pack at the start of Lap 4, being able to hold on to claim his first victory since returning to Ducati. It meant it Bautista claimed his first win in two years and 181 days and the 17^th win of his WorldSBK career.

Behind Bautista, three riders were battling for the remaining two front row starting positions in Race 2 as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) battled for the top three. Rea was able to claim second place with Razgatlioglu third, after a last lap battle with Rinaldi. Razgatlioglu passed Rinaldi into the left hander of Turn 15 before the Italian tried to respond into the final corner. Razgatlioglu was able to hold position before crossing the line with just 0.059s separating the pair after a drag race to the line.  

ROW TWO FOR RACE 2: just missing out on the front row

Rinaldi will lead away the second row from fourth place with fellow Italian rider Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) alongside him from fifth place. Locatelli had a battle with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in the closing stages of the race, with Lowes missing out on fifth place by just 0.091s.

BASSANI CHARGES, SCQ TYRE DEBUTS IN RACING: the third-row starters in Race 2

Italian rider Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) charged through from ninth on the grid to claim seventh place and he will lead the way from the third row in Race 2, ahead of Team HRC duo Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge. Both Lecuona and Vierge used Pirelli’s new SCQ tyre in the 10-lap Superpole Race to finish inside the top nine, finishing as the highest-placed riders using this compound; the top seven riders used the SCX tyre.

The top nine following the Tissot Superpole Race, full results here:

1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +5.141s

3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +6.008s

4. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +6.067s

5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +7.532s

6. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +7.623s

7. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +8.801s

8. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) +10.127s

9. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) +11.414s

New Lap Record: Torpak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha – 1’49.375ss

Watch Race 2 from Aragon at 14:00 Local Time (GMT+2) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!