In WorldSBK Race 1 at Aragón it’s a Ducati Redding-Davies one-two ahead of Rea; the standard Pirelli options are confirmed as protagonists.
In WorldSBK Scott Redding is back on the top step of the podium, taking back the lead in the overall championship standings, while Andrea Locatelli remains unbeatable in WorldSSP. Great satisfaction in the Pirelli camp with the versatility of the standard tyres chosen by almost the entire starting grid.
Alcañiz (Spain), 29 August 2020 – The first day of races has just come to a close for the PROSECCO DOC Aragón Round, the fourth in the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship and the first of two consecutive race weekends at the renowned MotorLand Aragón circuit in Teruel, Spain.
Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) took the third victory of his WorldSBK début season, all on Spanish territory, as well as moving up in the overall rider standings to take the lead, just five points ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), who finished Race 1 in third place. The second step of the podium, on the other hand, was occupied by the man with the most total wins on this circuit, Ducati rider Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R).
In the Supersport class, Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) did not disappoint, confirming his status as the rider to beat and taking home the seventh win in a row for his championship début year. In WorldSSP Race 1, the podium was rounded out by Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) and Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R).
For the tyres, as happened for the Jerez and Portimão rounds, almost all the riders on the grid relied on the standard solutions proposed by Pirelli, also confirming their versatility, guaranteeing extremely high performance levels with different asphalt temperatures.
On the tyre front, in WorldSBK Race 1, almost all the riders on the starting grid chose to have the standard SC1 (option A) on the front, with the exception of Jonathan Rea and Loris Baz, who were on the X1118 SC1 development solution (option B) and Takahashi, who was on the standard medium SC2 (option C). For the rear, all the riders on the grid relied on the standard soft SC0 solution (option B), except for Álvaro Bautista, who chose to race with the super soft standard SCX solution (option A).
In the World Supersport class, for the umpteenth time, the entire starting grid relied on the soft standard SC0 solution (option A) for the rear as confirmation of the versatility of this solution even with the lower temperatures that characterised this first day of races. For the front, this time 14 out of the 24 riders chose the soft standard SC1 (option A), whereas the remaining riders on the grid used the standard SC2 (option B).
WorldSBK Race 1:
Starting well from the second spot on the grid was Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1), who was, however, immediately swallowed up by the two teammates, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), followed by Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R) who thereby maintained his starting position. Behind the Frenchman (in fourth place at this point), was Yamaha rider Michael Van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1), closing out the leading quintet. On the fifth lap, team Ducati managed to gain important positions: With an outstanding manoeuvre, Scott Redding moved into second ahead of Lowes who was later forced to retire after crashing on turn three. To add to the excitement, Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R), traditionally very strong on this Spanish circuit, gained the upper hand over both Loris Baz and Michael van der Mark, moving into a podium position. At the mid-race point, the British rookie Ducati rider also managed to get past the reigning World Champion who, however, stayed tight on his tracks, with the leading duo progressively creating a gap ahead of the rest of the group until three laps from the end, when Rea went wide on turn twelve, thereby coming into the sights for Chaz Davies, who overtook him. Redding finished first on Ducati for his third Superbike win and taking back the lead in the overall championship standings ahead of his teammate and the five-time world champion Kawasaki rider.
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
- S. Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- C. Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
- M. R. Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- M. van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
- T. Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
- L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
- X. Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
- F. Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
- L. Haslam (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
- L. Mercado (Motocorsa Racing / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- S. Barrier (Brixx Performance / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- R. Ramos (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
- M. Melandri (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- T. Takahashi (MIE Racing Althea HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
- E. Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
- L. Gabellini (MIE Racing Althea HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
- Á. Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
- A. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
- C. Ponsson (Nuova M2 Racing / Aprilia RSV4 1000)
- G. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
- T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMWS1000 RR)
- M. Scheib (ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
WorldSSP Race 1:
The Kawasakis ridden by L. Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R) and P. Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R) got off the grid extremely well when the lights went out, moving into the race lead ahead of Yamaha riders A. Locatelli (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) and J. Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6). H. Soomer (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) brought up the rear of the leading quartet, which put on a spectacular show of thrilling duels throughout the early laps of the race. Coming out on top were the two championship leaders, overtaking the two Kawasakis. This put Frenchman Cluzel in the race lead, followed closely by Locatelli for several laps, but the latter did a brilliant fifth lap, overtaking Cluzel on the straight and taking home the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1’54.191. In the meantime, Italian rider R. De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675), who had started from the sixth spot on the grid, maintained a good, consistent pace, snatching fourth from Frenchman Mahias, one second behind Oettl, who did a good job defending his podium position. Locatelli finished first, thereby maintaining his winning streak for the season, 3.2 seconds ahead of Cluzel and 5.2 ahead of Oettl.
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
- A. Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- J. Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- P. Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- R. De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675)
- L. Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- S. Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- I. Viñales (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- M. Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- D. Webb (WRP Wepol Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- C. Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- A. Carranza (EMPERADOR Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- F. Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675)
- C. Öncü (Turkish Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- M. Herrera (Dynavolt Honda / Honda CBR600RR)
- P. Hobelsberger (Dynavolt Honda / Honda CBR600RR)
- G. Hendra Pratama (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- H. Okubo (Dynavolt Honda / Honda CBR600RR)
- A. Bassani (Soradis Yamaha Motoxracing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- L. Cresson (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth / Yamaha YZF R6)
- A. Verdoïa (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- L. Montella (DK MOTORSPORT / Yamaha YZF R6)
- H. Soomer (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- S. Valtulini (Blackflag Motorsport / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- P. Sebestyen (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth / Yamaha YZF R6)
- L. Epis (MPM Routz Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
WorldSSP300 Race 1:
Race 1 of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship closed out the first day of the weekend at Motorland Aragón. Taking the win was Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT / Kawasaki Ninja 400) ahead of Spanish riders Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300 / Kawasaki Ninja 400) and Mika Perez (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300 / Kawasaki Ninja 400), who gave spectators a breathtaking finale, taking home a well-deserved podium finish.
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for WorldSBK Race 1 and WorldSSP Race 1:
In WorldSBK Race 1, most of the riders on the grid preferred the standard SC1 solution on the front (option A) with the exception of Rea and Baz, who raced on the X1118 SC1 development tyre (option B), and Takahashi on the standard SC2 (option C).
As for the rear, for this race, all the riders on the grid chose the standard SC0 solution (option B), except for Bautista, who preferred the super soft standard SCX solution (option A).
In WorldSSP Race 1, the entire grid used the standard soft SC0 tyre on the rear (option A), whereas most of the riders chose the standard SC1 solution for the front (option A). Isaac Viñales, Steven Odendaal, Manuel Gonzalez, Federico Fuligni, Hikari Okubo and Lachlan Epis, on the other hand, preferred racing with the standard medium SC2 solution (option B) on the front.
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:
- Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) in 1’50.394 on the 3rd lap
- Most used front solution: standard SC1 (19 out of 23 riders)
- Most used rear solution: standard SC0 (22 out of 23 riders)
- Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 8 rear
- Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 67, including 31 front and 36 rear
- Air temperature: 23° C
- Asphalt temperature: 33° C
Pirelli statistics for WorldSSP Race 1:
- Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: A. Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) in 1’54.191 on the 5th lap
- Most used front solution: standard SC1 (19 out of 24 riders)
- Most used rear solution: standard SC0 (24 out of 24 riders)
- Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Supersport class: 4 front and 4 rear
- Number of tyres available for each Supersport rider: 42, including 21 front and 21 rear
- Air temperature: 24° C
- Asphalt temperature: 38° C
