In WorldSBK Jonathan Rea starts off the season brilliantly, taking his ninth win on this circuit. In WorldSSP Baldassarri triumphs and in WorldSSP300 Marc García takes the win.
Alcañiz (Spain), 09 April 2022 – The first race day of the 2022 MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship has just come to a close in Teruel (Spain) at the renowned MotorLand Aragón circuit.
Pirelli is particularly pleased with the performance of the solutions brought to this round: the new rear tyre in extra soft SCQ compound allowed three different riders from three different manufacturers (Razgatlioglu on Yamaha, Bautista on Ducati and Rea on Kawasaki) to break the circuit record of 1’48.458, set in 2021 by Jonathan Rea with the previous qualifying solution. The absolute best time belongs to Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) who took the first pole position of the season, stopping the clock at 1’48.267.
In WorldSBK Race 1 it was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who shone: relying on the SC1 A0674 development solution at the front and the standard SCX solution at the rear, he rode an outstanding race, skilfully fending off the attacks of Razgatlioglu and Bautista (Aruba.It Racing - Ducati) from the first to the last turn, taking home the win in the opening race of the premier class.
In the Supersport class, rookie Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) took home his first win ahead of Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).
Pirelli is also pleased with the performance in both classes of the rear solution in super soft SCX compound. Chosen by most of the riders on the SBK and SSP grid, it allowed for spectacular races filled with constant overtaking, offering high performance even with particularly low air temperatures (air ~16°C, asphalt ~27°C).
WorldSBK Race 1:
Pole man Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) started well, moving into the lead but under attack straight away from Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who snatched the top spot during the first lap. Behind them were the ‘reds’ ridden by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.It Racing - Ducati) and Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.It Racing - Ducati), as well Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) on his Honda. It was a spectacular first half of the race, with the podium positions changing hands constantly thanks to the insistent attacks of Reigning World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and then by those of the Ducati riders. Jonathan Rea defended well, responding to every pass and staying in the lead for the last third of the race. The Rea – Bautista duo progressively increased the gap ahead of Razgatlioglu, continuing to put on a fantastic show with plenty of overtaking and upsets. Bautista was constantly on the hunt for a spot to overtake, finding the opportunity with just two corners left to the chequered flag, but Jonathan Rea responded immediately, finishing first just 9 one hundredths of a second ahead of Bautista. Toprak Razgatlioglu finished third.
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
WorldSSP Race 1:
At 3:15 in the afternoon, the opening race of the season for the Supersport class got underway and the protagonists proved to be Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) and the reigning world champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), battling for the top step of the podium not far ahead of Yamaha rider Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team). In the final third of the race, the gaps between the three leaders narrows increasingly, with the riders separated by just three tenths of a second and Baldassarri and Aegerter locked in a head-to-head for the win. Behind van Straalen, on the other hand, were the Italian bikes ridden by Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), battling it out for fifth. Due to a mistake on the last turn, Dominique Aegerter lost ground and wound up finishing second, whereas Italian rookie Lorenzo Baldassarri won the race, with Öncü on Kawasaki finishing third.
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
WorldSSP300 Race 1:
In the first race of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship, Spaniard Marc García (Yamaha YZF-R3 / Yamaha MS Racing) took the win ahead of compatriot Álvaro Díaz (Yamaha YZF-R3 / Arco Motor University Team) and German rider Lehmann Lennox (KTM RC 390 R / Freudenberg KTM - Paligo Racing).
Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Cup Race 1 and Race 2:
Ruiz Ruiz (#72) won Race 1, with second place going to E. Valentim (#39) and D. Bergamini (#13) third. The latter rider went on to finish on the top step of the podium in Race 2 ahead of K. Fontainha (#26) and Y. Ruiz Ruiz (#72).
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for WorldSBK Race 1 and WorldSSP Race 1:
In terms of tyres, in WorldSBK Race 1, most of the riders relied on the rear super soft standard SCX solution (option A) with the exception of A. Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and L. Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) on the standard SC0 soft (option B). For the front, 14 riders out of 25 chose the standard SC1 solution (option B), whereas the rest of the grid opted for the A0674 development solution (option A), including race winner Jonathan Rea.
For the rear, most of the riders relied on the super soft standard SCX solution (option A) with the exception of A. Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and L. Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) on the standard SC0 soft (option B).
In the WorldSSP category, the majority relied on the standard super soft SCX solution (option A) for the rear and the standard soft SC1 solution (option A) for the front.
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:
Pirelli statistics for WorldSSP Race 1:
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