Alcañiz (Spain),
15
April
2018
|
11:00
Europe/Amsterdam

At Aragón in WorldSBK all the riders relied on the soft development rear introduced by Pirelli and Chaz Davies won Race 2 on Ducati, the WorldSSP race went to Sandro Cortese

The Ducati riding Welshman is now just 12 points behind Jonathan Rea in the overall standings and Ducati remains solidly in the lead for the manufacturer standings, in WorldSSP 300 the win went to Mueffels whereas in Superstock1000 Reiterberger won

The 2018 MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship is shaping up to be a three-way battle between reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on Kawasaki and the two factory Ducati riders Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who have so far taken turns on the top step of the podium, winning two races each of the six held thus far. On the Spanish Motorland Aragón track, the Northern Irishman from the Akashi-based manufacturer dominated Race 1 yesterday, but today he was unable to fend off Ducati riding Welshman Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who, starting from the eighth spot on the grid, went on to win the race, riding impeccably and allowing Ducati to stay in the lead for the manufacturer championship overall standings, narrowing the gap behind Jonathan Rea in the overall rider standings to 12 points.

In the FIM Supersport World Championship, on the other hand, it was Yamaha who dominated among the manufacturers, monopolising the podium today with race winner Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) who finished ahead of Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP team) and Jules Cluzel (NRT), all three aside a YZF-R6 from the Iwata-based manufacturer.

Austrian manufacturer KTM, on the other hand, took the first race of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship season with rookie Koen Meuffels, whereas in Superstock 1000 the winner was German rider Markus Reiterberger on BMW.

Satisfaction for Pirelli as well who, on the occasion of the first European round, brought various new development solutions both for the top class and for Supersport600, very popular and used by the riders throughout the weekend.

In Race 2, Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) started from the first spot on the grid. At the start, the Italian seemed to be in difficulty and was overtaken by Dutchman Michael Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) who had started behind him, but shortly thereafter, Melandri managed to regain the lost position.In the meantime, Xavi Forés (Barni Racing Team), who had started from the seventh spot on the grid astride his number 12 private Ducati, managed to move all the way up to the front, even snatching the lead from Melandri who was also passed by Race 1 winner Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK).During the seventh lap, the Northern Irish defending world champion became menacing behind Forés, who had an advantage of just over a tenth. Behind Forés and Rea, closing out the leading group, were the Ducati machines ridden by Melandri and Davies.Unfortunately, during the eighth lap, the Barni Racing Team Spaniard was forced to bid the race goodbye due to a sliding crash, leaving Rea in the lead.However, the factory Ducati riders, Melandri and Davies, had no intention of letting the Kawasaki rider pull away at the front and they hounded him closely at a gap of less than four tenths.The Ducati riding Welshman seemed to be faster than his Italian teammate and during the twelfth lap, he managed to overtake him. This began Davies' pursuit of Rea, with the Ducati rider extremely fast and, at the start of the fourteenth lap, he managed to overtake the reigning World Champion at the end of the starting straight.Rea gave it his all to take back the lost position, but Davies managed to maintain nerves of steel, not making any mistakes and thereby being the first to pass under the chequered flag ahead of the Northern Irishman and teammate Marco Melandri. Fourth and fifth place went to the Yamahas ridden by Alex Lowes and Michael Van Der Mark.

WorldSBK Race 2 standings: 
1) C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
3) M. Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
4) A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)
5) M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)
6) T. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
7) M. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Junior Team)
8) J. Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)
9) T. Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
10) L. Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia)
11) R. Ramos (Team GoEleven Kawasaki)
12) J. Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team)
13) L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura)
14) P. Jacobsen (TripleM Honda World Superbike Team)
15) L. Baz (GULF ALTHEA BMW Racing Team)
16) Y. Hernandez (Team Pedercini Racing)
17) O. Jezek (Guandalini Racing)
18) V. Leonov (SPB Racing Team)
19) D. Giugliano (Milwaukee Aprilia)
RT) X. Forés (Barni Racing Team)

Race 2 was preceded by the FIM Supersport World Championship race, with German rider Sandro Cortese starting from pole position astride his team Kallio Racing Yamaha. On the first two rows, five out of the six riders were on the YZF-R6 from the Iwata-based manufacturer. It was an excellent start for Jules Cluzel (NRT) who, starting from the sixth spot on the grid, moved into the race lead, staying there until the mid-race point when he yielded the position to Cortese.The German rider of Italian origin headed up the leading quartet that included, in order, Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP team), Jules Cluzel (NRT) and defending World Champion Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP team), all within just over a second of one another.In the final laps, it was a battle between Cortese and Caricasulo, with the factory Yamaha Italian rider managing to overtake the German on the thirteenth lap, thereby moving into the lead. Shortly thereafter, however, the private team Kallio Racing rider took back the lost position. In the finale, Frenchman Cluzel tried to take back second place from Caricasulo, but the Italian successfully warded off his attacks. In the end, Sandro Cortese crossed the finish line first ahead of Federico Caricasulo, second, and Jules Cluzel, third.

WorldSSP standings: 
1) S. Cortese (Kallio Racing)
2) F. Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP team)
3) J. Cluzel (NRT)
4) L. Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP team)
5) K. Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini)
6) L. Stapleford (Profile Racing)
7) S. Morais (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
8) N. Tuuli (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda)
9) A. West (EAB antwest Racing)
10) R. Hartog (Team Hartog - Against Cancer)
11) R. Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team)
12) L. Cresson (Kallio Racing)
13) E. Lahti (Sterkman Motorsport by HRP)
14) M. Canducci (Team GoEleven Kawasaki)
15) S. Hill (Profile Racing)
16) C. Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha)
17) N. Calero (Orelac Racing VerdNatura)
18) H. Soomer (Racedays)
19) J. Van Sikkelerus (GEMAR Team Lorini)
20) A. Irwin (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda)
21) P. Sebestyen (SSP Hungary Racing)
22) W. Tessels (Chromeburner Wayne's Racingteam MtM)
23) T. Gradinger (NRT)
24) L. Epis (Team GoEleven Kawasaki)
RT) H. Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
RT) A. Badovini (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag)
RT) R. De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag)
RT) A. Coppola (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Junior Team)

The third event of the day was the Supersport 300 World Championship which started at 2:20 PM local time with the win going to Dutch Rookie Koen Meuffels (KTM Fortron Junior Team) who, astride his KTM RC 390 R finished ahead of compatriot Scott Deroue (Motoport Kawasaki) and Spaniard Mika Perez (Kawasaki ParkingGO Team), third.

Finishing out the race weekend was FIM Superstock1000 European Championship. In this first round, it was German rider Markus Reiterberger (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW) on BMW who won ahead of Italians Roberto Tamburini (Berclaz Racing Team SA) and Federico Sandi (MOTOCORSA Racing).

The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for WorldSBK Race 2 and WorldSSP:

Many changes were made by the riders in Race 2 compared to the solutions used yesterday at the Race 1 restart, primarily due to the much higher asphalt temperatures.On the rear, all the riders used the softest solution of those brought to this round by Pirelli, namely the new W1050 SC0 development tyre (option A) which obviously, with an asphalt temperature of 30°C, provided a clear advantage with respect to the medium solutions.On the front, the V0952 SC1 development tyre (option C) was confirmed as the favourite solution among the riders, although, compared to Race 1, it lost a bit of popularity in favour of the W0494 SC1 development tyre (option D).

In the WorldSSP race, the riders made very similar choices to one another. On the rear, the practically all used the new X0093 SC1 development solution (option A), with the exception of West and Sebestyen, who preferred the standard SC1.As for the front, 18 out of the 28 riders on the grid opted for the standard SC1 (option A)and the remaining went with the new X0012 SC1 development solution (option B).

Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 2: 

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati),in 1'51.048 at the 16th lap 

• Most used front solution: development SC1 V0952 (13 out of 20 riders) • Most used rear solution: development SC0 W1050 (20 out of 20 riders) 

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 318.6 km/h, achieved by Patrick Jacobsen (TripleM Honda World Superbike Team) in the 5th lap 

• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the WorldSBK class: 6 front and 6 rear 

Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 73, including 39 front and 34 rear 

• Air temperature: 19° C 

• Asphalt temperature: 30° C

Pirelli statistics for WorldSSP race: 

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing), in 1'54.644 in the 10th lap 

• Most used front solution: standard SC1 (18 out of 28 riders) 

• Most used rear solution: development SC1 X0093 (26 out of 28 riders) 

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Supercorsa tyres: 282 km/h, achieved by Thomas Gradinger (NRT) in the 2nd lap 

• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the WorldSSP class: 5 front and 4 rear 

Number of tyres available for each WorldSSP rider: 48, including 27 front and 21 rear 

• Air temperature: 17° C 

• Asphalt temperature: 22° C