2017 Aragon World Superbike Results, Race 2: Recap

2017 Aragon World Superbike Results, Race 2

Spoiler Alert: 2017 Aragon World Superbike results from race two listed below.

Heading into 2017 Aragon World Superbike, Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea had a perfect start to the opening two rounds in Australia and Thailand. The Northern Irishman dominated, doubling at both rounds from the pole.

But the favorite at Motorland Aragon was the man who finished second behind Rea at every race so far this season: Aruba.it Racing Ducati Team’s Chaz Davies. Why? The Welshman had won three of the last four races at Aragon aboard his Panigale R.

Davies, won Superpole, led the opening 16 of 18 laps of Saturday’s race one , but suffered a crash while leading ahead of Rea on the penultimate lap, causing a DNF. Rea would go onto to win race one ahead of the other factory Ducati rider, Marco Melandri, and the other factory Kawasaki ZX-10RR pilot, 2013 World SBK Champion Tom Sykes.

Due to the race-two grid changes that put the front Superpole winners in the middle of the pack, Davies started race two from 10th on the grid. Hungry for his first win of 2017 WorldSBK the Welshman, moved through the field quickly, and passed Rea for the lead on lap 12.

From there it was a non-stop battle to the checkered flag, but Davies got the best of Rea. Davies claimed the win by 0.483 of a second ahead of Rea. Taking third was Melandri the Italian claiming his second-straight podium of the weekend 2.479 seconds behind Davies.

This was Davies sixth win at Motorland Aragon (four with Ducati, two on BMW S 1000 RR), and his 21st WSBK-career victory.

“The whole weekend has been difficult, from start to finish, so it was really important to cap it with a win, especially after yesterday’s disappointment. We were confident our bike would be fast at Aragon, but it wasn’t easy at all out there today and our main rivals seem relatively comfortable so we know there’s still work to do in many areas. Today we suffered a bit with grip early on,” Davies says.

“Also, the wind was really strong. It kept pushing me away from corners and in the last lap I got caught by a gust going into turn 5 and I missed a backshift, going a bit wide, but we still managed to finish in front. We’re competitive but it’s still not enough, so we need to keep working to improve. Tomorrow’s test will be very important for us but, for now, we’re going to enjoy this victory.”

This was Rea’s first loss of the season, but his second-place finish keeps him only five points shy of a perfect record after three of 13 rounds in 2017 World Superbike. Rea now has 145 points, 50 ahead of Davies and 54 ahead of Sykes.

“I got to the front quite early but I could not make a break because it was so windy on the straight that the group stayed together. When Chaz came past he had a little bit more pace and I upped my own pace to try and go with him,” Rea says.

“He made a few mistakes but none that meant I could really go through clean on him and make it stick. On the last lap I just fought – fought for a win. I tried in a few places but it did not work out in the end. We can’t complain too much because on one side of the circuit we were really strong. Congratulations to Chaz because to come back from a big crash yesterday and win today was really impressive. I am really happy with the way I rode today and I got 45 points this weekend, even though I was not feeling my best. But the bike was working really well so I am looking forward to rolling to Assen now.”

Finishing fourth was Sykes, who battled with a sickness all weekend. Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team’s Michael van der Mark claimed fifth, his best result of the season, followed by Barni Racing Team Ducati’s Xavi Fores.

Rounding out the top 10 were Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team), Leandro Mercado (IODARacing), Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse).

As for the sole American in 2017 World SBK, Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team’s Nicky Hayden suffered a DNF due to a technical issue with his CBR1000RR. Also suffering a DNF was Pedercini Racing SC-Project Kawasaki’s Alex de Agnelis, who crashed out on lap 15.

The 2017 World Superbike Championship now breaks for four weeks before heading to the TT Assen Circuit, where action gets underway April 28.

2017 Aragon World Superbike Results, Race 2: