Sunday’s action kicked off in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with a very congested Warm Up as Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) topped the times at MotorLand Aragon by just 0.005s. The top three for Warm Up ahead of the Pirelli Aragon Round were separated by just 0.046s to set up an incredible Sunday of action at the season-opening round.

Rinaldi posted a best time of 1’49.721s as he claimed Warm Up honours as he became the fifth rider to top a timed session across the season-opening round, finishing only 0.005s clear of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) in second place. Rinaldi’s teammate, Alvaro Bautista, was third and just 0.046s away from top spot.

Race 1 winner Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) claimed fourth place in the 15-minute Warm Up session as he posted a best time of 1’50.074s, 0.353s away from Rinaldi’s pace setting time. Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was the fastest Yamaha rider in Warm Up in fifth place, ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) who rounded out the top six.

Honda were represented in the top seven with Team HRC’s Iker Lecuona in seventh place, 0.781s away from Rinaldi’s time, finishing ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) as he looks to bounce back from a Race 1 crash in Sunday’s Tissot Superpole Race and Race 2. BMW had a bike inside the top ten with Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) in ninth, while Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) rounded out the top ten.

The top six following WorldSBK Warm Up, full results here:

1. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.005s

3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.046s

4. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.353s

5. Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.552s

6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.637s

Don’t miss racing action on Sunday with the Tissot Superpole Race at 11:00 Local Time (GMT+2) and Race 2 at 14:00 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!