Rea pips Razgat and Bautista on opening day of Aragon WorldSBK Test

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Aragon Pre-Season Test Day One

As day one of the final pre-season test at the Spanish circuit of Aragon concluded, it was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who topped the time-sheets under the race lap record by two-tenths. Hot on his heels though was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK). The pair were separated by just 0.016s after the first day of testing came to an end, with Rea pipping the reigning champion right at the end of the third session. At day’s end, all five manufacturers featured in the top ten.

The day was split into three Free Practice sessions, allowing riders from all three classes to take to the track. With cold conditions in the morning, very few riders ventured out on track until FP2 at the start of the afternoon. Rea’s best lap time in FP2 was a 1’50.322s but he was able to improve that by a second in FP3 to a 1’49.394s to take top spot away from Razgatlioglu right at the end of the day.

Jonathan Rea – P1

“It was positive all in all. It was nice to ride again at Aragon; I haven’t ridden here for quite some time. I felt a good flow with the bike straight away, even with cooler conditions this morning. It’s going to be tough to draw any conclusions for the race weekend because the forecast has the race weekend very warm, and right now, it’s, to put it mildly, Baltic out there. Even your hands are quite cold when riding. We confirmed the ideas that we’ve been working through in the winter tests, which is positive. Been working in a good way. A bit more of that tomorrow, a few more practice starts; I’ve been nailing my practice starts here so that’s positive.”

Razgatlioglu’s time was also under Rea’s standing race lap record, although the defending champ’s day ended abruptly, when he suffered a technical issue at turn 15 in the closing stages of the session. Razgatlioglu used new electronics throughout the test as he worked on the race setup of his Yamaha YZF R1.

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P2

“For me, the first day was very, very positive. It was very cold this morning, only five or six riders went out. In the afternoon, I tried my second bike and I felt some problems. We were working on this. On the last exit, I used my first bike because it was feeling much better. I tried each tyre because I needed to check each bike. I’m surprised because I saw a 1’49.4, because normally my plan is not to push for a lap time. I’m happy because the feeling is much better. In FP3, I tried a race simulation and did 15 laps. After the technical problem, I stopped. It was very positive and I’m very happy about this. This is testing, not a race weekend. The race weekend will be a bit warmer. We feel like we are ready. Tomorrow, we will try again more setup with the new electronics because after ten laps we saw a little problem.”

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed third spot despite a crash on his Panigale V4 R machine at turn six in FP3, ending the day six-tenths down on Rea’s best time as he focussed on the package for his season start this Friday.

Alvaro Bautista – P3

“We’ve been working a lot on the set-up and electronics and we have been able to get some very interesting data. I’m really sorry for the crash on the last run. I went out for the first time with the second bike and, if I’m honest, I don’t know what happened. We will have to check the data to understand it better. Luckily there were no consequences. Anyway, I am confident about the pace we had with the SC0. Tomorrow we’ll also try the softer tyres“.

Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished the day in fourth place as the American lapped around seven-tenths slower than Rea, although Gerloff was fastest in the third sector of the lap. Gerloff’s R1 machine was fitted with the 2022 engine and a new exhaust seen on Razgatlioglu’s bike during testing as he claimed fourth spot on day one. Team-mate Kohta Nozane ensured GRT Yamaha riders were inside the top ten with eighth place, just four tenths off Gerloff’s pace.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was three-tenths behind Gerloff in fifth. Lowes had a couple of items to try on the suspension and chassis side, but refrained from too many changes in the cooler conditions. The weather is expected to warm up by the weekend’s opening round.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claimed sixth spot as he, like team-mate Razgatlioglu, did not improve in the final session of the day. His best time was a 1’50.433s, just over a second off Rea’s time but 0.010s away from Lowes.

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Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was the highest-placed BMW rider as he claimed a top seven finish on his M 1000 RR, with team-mate Eugene Laverty in tenth. Laverty’s best time was a 1’50.600s as he worked on the rear grip of his machine.

All five manufacturers were inside the top ten as Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) went ninth fastest on his CBR1000RR-R machine, posting a best time of 1’50.586s as he prepares for his rookie WorldSBK campaign. Lecuona’s plan was to do as many laps as possible but cold conditions in the morning and a turn seven crash in FP3 meant his running was disrupted, although he was okay following the crash.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was 11th, just 0.032s outside a place inside the top ten on his Panigale V4 R, testing a new swing-arm as well as different set-up choices.

Michael Rinaldi – P11

“I can’t be satisfied with the way things went today. We weren’t able to find continuity on the track and that’s something we’ll talk about with the team to be able to do better tomorrow. Anyway, the feeling with the bike isn’t bad and that gives me confidence. Of course, we will have to work harder to be ready for the first round of the season“.

Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed 13th spot for the factory BMW squad, three-tenths down on the fastest time record by Baz, the fastest BMW rider at the test.

Last year’s breakthrough star, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) was 18th on the opening day of test with a time of 1’51.890s, over a tenth slower than debutant Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) who received a late call-up to the 2022 Championship. Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) was 19th fastest after he had a turn two crash in FP3, with the Frenchman okay after the incident.

Day One WorldSBK Times

WorldSSP

Factory Ducati World Supersport rider Nicolo Bulega topped the time-sheets on the Aruba Panigale V2 ahead of Dominique Aegerter on the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha in the new look World Supersport category that makes its debut in 2022.

Nicolò Bulega

“It was a very complicated day because of the weather conditions. Luckily in the afternoon, we were able to work steadily, also because it was my first time on this circuit with the Ducati Panigale V2. We’re still a long way from the fastest times of this category at Aragon, but the feeling with the bike is growing and that’s positive“.

Both Bulega and Aegerter took times leading throughout the third 45-minute session but it was the Italian rookie who headed the field with a best lap time of 1’42.238s on his Ducati Panigale V2 machine, with reigning Champion Aegerter only 0.096s slower than Bulega on his Yamaha YZF R6 as both looked to start the season in the perfect fashion.

Turkish star Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) put in a late lap to go third fastest at the end of day one, with less than two tenths separating the three manufacturers of Ducati, Yamaha and Kawasaki.

Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was inside the top three until the end of the season when he was pipped by Oncu, but still ensured four of 2022’s five manufacturers were represented in the top four as he posted a best time of 1’54.524s. Using the old fairing on his F3 800 RR, with the new one being tested on Day 2, he finished just ahead of rookie Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) in fifth, with the Italian just over a tenth away from Tuuli’s time.

French rider Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) was sixth fastest, less than a tenth away from Baldassarri as he goes in search of his first elusive world title, while Dynavolt Triumph duo Stefano Manzi and Hannes Soomer finished in eighth and ninth place respectively. Mazni, who has missed testing so far with an injury sustained at the VR46 Ranch, posted a best time of 1’54.963s with Soomer just 0.025s behind. Soomer did have a crash at Turn 6 in Free Practice 2, but he was able to get back out on track for FP3. Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was ninth as he prepares for his rookie WorldSBK campaign with Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) rounding out the top ten on his Panigale V2, 0.025s away from Montella.

Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) was 11th despite coming to a stop at Turn 1 during FP3, with his best time set in FP2. He posted a 1’55.271s and he was the fastest rider to not improve between FP2 and FP3.

Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) was 12th fastest, 0.032s behind van Straalen. Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing WorldSSP) was 17th as he adjusts to WorldSSP after two seasons in WorldSSP300 as he lapped 1.979s slower than Bulega but finished as the highest-placed WorldSSP300 graduate on Day 1.

Australia’s Oli Bayliss on the Barni Ducati Panigale V2 was 22nd on the time-sheets after the first day of play with a time of 1m56.422 – 2.604s off the front running pace of Italy’s Nicolo Bulega on the Aruba Ducati Panigale V2 who set at time of 1m53.818s.

Day One WorldSSP Times

WorldSSP300

The opening day of the Dorna-Supported Test at MotorLand Aragon for the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship came to a conclusion with French rider Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) topping the timesheets on his Kawasaki Ninja 400. With a lot of riders opting to stay in their garages through Free Practice 1 and 2 due to colder conditions, Di Sora’s best lap time came in the final Free Practice 3 session on the opening day as he topped the times by 1.189s.

Di Sora also went fastest in FP2 but improved his time by the best part of a second in FP3 to go fastest with a 2’07.602s, before improving again at the end of FP3 to a 2’06.834s, although his best time was someway off previous lap records set at the Spanish venue. He was joined in the top three by two other Kawasaki riders as Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) and Sylvain Markarian (Leader Team Flembbo) made it a Kawasaki lockout in the top three, while both Leader Team Flembbo riders featured, although Di Sora’s time was more than a second clear than his nearest rivals.

German rider Dirk Geiger (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) claimed fourth place, more than a second down on Di Sora’s best time as he posted a 2’08.723s, with Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) in fifth place, two tenths down on Geiger. Ieraci’s day was disrupted by a crash at Turn 8 earlier in the day but he was able to get back out on track in FP3 to finish the day strongly.

Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) was the fastest Yamaha rider on track in sixth place, posting a time of 2’08.911s and finishing just 0.10s away from Ieraci’s best time. He was followed closely by fellow Yamaha rider Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) in seventh place, with Gennai’s best time a 2’0.015s. Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) was eighth in the combined classification, with his time of 2’09.086s set in FP2; he was the fastest rider of the day to not improve in FP3 despite warmer conditions.

Alex Millan (SMW Racing) claimed ninth spot in the combined classification ahead of his first full season campaign in WorldSSP300, posting a best of 2’09.106s on his Kawasaki machine. Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project) was just another 0.053s behind Millan in the standings as he rounded out the top ten.

Hugo de Cancellis (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) finished just outside the top ten with 11th place, missing out on a spot in the top ten by just 0.145s as he posted a best time of 2’09.304s. Lennon Lehman (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) is the sole KTM representative in 2022 and he claimed 12th spot while Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki), who finished fifth in last year’s Championship, was 16th.

Young Aussie Harry Khouri finished the day 19th quickest on the Vinales Racing Team Kawasaki, just over three-seconds off the front runners pace.

Six riders opted not to take to the track at all on Day 1, with Humberto Maier (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) and team-mate Ton Kawakami remaining in their box all day, along with Yamaha MS Racing duo Iker Garcia Abella and Marc Garcia. Rookies Ionnis Peristeras (ProGP Racing) and Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) also did not set a lap time throughout the day.

Day One WorldSSP300 Times

2022 WorldSBK Calendar