MotorLand Aragon did not disappoint as the field packed up and set off from a sweltering first of two race weekends in Spain. The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s riders put on a show featuring a miraculous rapid recovery from injury, a contender on the bubble breaking back into the podium fight, and a fresh face announcing himself to the grid with a debut podium.
BACK WITH A VENGEANCE
Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) went under the knife on Monday, May 18th, after suffering several fractures to his right ankle at Most, so many onlookers were stunned to see the two-time WorldSBK Champion on track on Friday as he ran short stints to get the rust off of his Ducati Panigale V4R. He faltered in the Tissot Superpole session, falling to a P16 qualification, and after a Race 1 brake fluid issue forced him to retire, it appeared it may have been a mistake to come back so early from the injury. He came out swinging in the Tissot Superpole Race, promoted up one position after Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) was ruled unfit with continued wrist fatigue. Bautista flew forward to P9 by Lap 4 and finished in P8 after Lorenzo Baldassarri's (Team GoEleven) crash. He started Race 2 from P8, overcoming Tommy Bridewell (Superbikes Advocates) and Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) before Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) made it past the Spaniard on Lap 17 to see the #19 to a P7 finish, his best result of the weekend.
Speaking of the American, Garrett Gerloff has been on a recent tear in WorldSBK. After breaking into the top five for the first time at Balaton Park and raising the bar even higher with a P4, P6 and P5 at Most, questions swirled as to whether the Texan would be able to keep up the pace at the Aragon Round. Amid a season largely in the back half of the point-scoring positions, Gerloff made a statement at Aragon, fighting his way to a P6 at the Ducati-favourable round. The result came in the closing race of the weekend, in which the Texan set off from P13. Climbing to P10 after a single lap, Gerloff found himself behind Bautista and the pair partnered up to close the gap to Bridewell, with Gerloff making his way past on Turn 12 of Lap 9, then making the same move on Surra on the next lap. Yari Montella’s (Barni Spark Racing Team) crash sent him up another position; seeing the #31 to P7 by Lap 12 of 18. Bautista, who had done some climbing up ahead of him all the while, was outpaced by the Texan on Turn 1, from which the American would sail clear to his P6 finish to the weekend.
BACK IN THE MIX
Aldi Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) had his most consistently strong weekend of the 2026 WorldSSP season so far, taking home P6 and P5 from the Aragon Round. The Indonesian started the season hot with a P2 in the wet at Australia but has struggled for consistent form since. At Aragon took a step in the right direction as he followed up his P4 at Most’s Race 2 with a P5 and P6, riding in the thick of the podium fight all weekend. Starting Race 1 in P7, he had a strong ride to hold his place on the order after passing ZXMOTO’s Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) and finished the race in P6. Starting from P3, the Indonesian led the race on Lap 2 and hung around in P3 until a surging Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) made late plays for the podium, shuffling Yamaha riders Mahendra and Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) to P5 and P6 respectively.
DESSOY CARRIES THE TRIUMPH BANNER
WorldSPB’s Harrison Dessoy (PHR Performance Triumph) took a big leap forward after the British rider landed a much-improved P6 to close last round at Most. Prior to Most, his best result was a P12 at Portimao, and now, after Aragon, he can call himself a WorldSPB podium finisher after a chaotic finish to the weekend’s final race. Starting Race 1 from P19, Dessoy had climbed his way to P9 by the red flag stoppage, showing him to a third row start at the restart, from which he made up one place to finish in P8. Had the weekend ended there, it would have already been a strong result for the Brit, but Race 2 saw him make a methodical ride up the order past his teammate Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) and others to finish in P5. With all the penalties applied, however, P1 finisher Elia Bartolini (CM Triumph Factory Racing) and P2 finisher Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) were sent back to P6 and P7, ushering Dessoy up onto the rostrum in P3 for his maiden podium in the Championship’s maiden season.
Tune in next round on June 12th as all four Championships pack into the paddock at Misano! Watch Live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass, now 50% off!