Alvaro Bautista sweeps Aragon WSBK

Matches Neil Hodgson’s nine on a roll winning streak

Randy Krummenacher claims Supersport win – Gonzalez heads WSSP300

Tom Edwards 19th – Tom Bramich 24th in WSSP300

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Alvaro has further cemented his place in the history books over the weekend, continuing his unbeaten run at Aragon with two more race wins and the Tissot Superpole Sprint victory for a clean sweep of the weekend.

This makes it nine wins in a row for the 34-year-old from Talavera de la Reina, matching the record of 2003 WorldSBK champion Neil Hodgson in opening race wins, as well as claiming Ducati’s 350th win in World Superbikes, while his eighth race win earlier in the day matched Troy Bayliss’s record for Ducati from 2006.

Álvaro Bautista – P1

“It has been an extraordinary weekend for me. Winning three races here in Spain in front of my family, my friends and the Spanish fans was really great. In all three, I was able to make my own strategy, that is get a fast start and maintain my own pace. For sure the conditions in the three races were different, especially today in the Superpole Race which took place in the morning when it was very cold. Luckily it got a bit warmer for Race 2, but you could really feel the wind. Despite this, I was able to stay focussed, understand the situation on the track and push hard all the way. In the end we have won nine races out of nine and I’m so happy about that. The team has done an incredible job, we are on the right path and I’d like to thank Aruba, all Ducati and my team because the congratulations should also go to them.”

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Tissot Superpole Race

The Tissot Superpole Race for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship provided exciting action from lights-out to the chequered flag. Off the line Bautista was yet again the rider with the best start, leading into turn one. However, there was mayhem behind as Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Michael van der Mark collided and crashed, ending the Dutchman’s 22-race streak of point-scoring positions. He finished 15th in the end, whilst Rinaldi went to the medical centre.

Bautista soon streaked away, leaving the battle for second to rage on. Sandro Cortese was running second until Alex Lowes made his way ahead at turn 12. Chaz Davies tried a similar move a lap later at turn 16 but couldn’t make the apex, running wide and dropping down to fifth – allowing rival Jonathan Rea to make up a position.

Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty battled hard. Ahead of them, Sandro Cortese was starting to drop back as Lowes, Rea and Davies made their respective moves on the German Rookie.

With five laps to go, there was another retirement as Markus Reiterberger’s miserable weekend continued, this time with mechanical gremlins. His teammate Tom Sykes was enjoying a much better race, having dropped down to seventh after the opening lap, he was now fifth and pushing hard for a second consecutive top five of the year.

The battle for second was starting to take place though, as Lowes slipstreamed his way passed Rea down the back straight, achieving the move at turn 16 with just five laps left to go. Two laps later, Rea almost hit the rear end of the Yamaha-man at turn one, allowing Chaz Davies to now get in on the action.

A lap later, it was a shoot-out and Rea tried to get ahead of Lowes at turn one, but the Englishman fought back. At turn four, Rea finally fired his way through and despite Lowes looking to fight back, Rea held on. The final lap soon beckoned but no moves were made, despite Lowes’ best efforts.

However, it was the dominant Alvaro Bautista who took yet another win in his WorldSBK career, holding off Rea and Lowes. Chaz Davies was a solid fourth, whilst Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty completed the top six; the front two rows for the last race of the weekend.

Row three saw Leon Haslam in seventh, after a fairly quiet weekend which has seen him absent from the front. Joining him would be Jordi Torres and Sandro Cortese in eighth and ninth respectively.

World Superbike Tissot Superpole Race Top 10 – Aragon

1. A. BAUTISTA ESP
2. J. REA GBR +5.791
3. A. LOWES GBR +5.906
4. C. DAVIES GBR +6.052
5. T. SYKES GBR +9.217
6. E. LAVERTY IRL +9.921
7. L. HASLAM GBR +10.221
8. J. TORRES ESP +11.961
9. S. CORTESE GER +13.712
10. T. RAZGATLIOGLU TUR +14.218

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Superbikes Race 2

Alvaro Bautista took his ninth consecutive race win in the final Aragon battle to equal 2003 WorldSBK champion Neil Hodgson in winning the opening nine races of the season, as well as giving Ducati their 350th WorldSBK win.

Bautista took the lead from pole position, seeing-off Jonathan Rea into turn one. For the first time this weekend, every rider made it through the opening corners without drama. Chaz Davies was an early improver and up to third place, while Alex Lowes was a strong fourth despite dropping back. Tom Sykes wasn’t the fastest starter and dropped back, allowing a rapid-starting Jordi Torres and Eugene Laverty to get in close proximity.

Davies made his move on lap two, to pass Rea and push the reigning four-time champion back into the jaws of the chasing pack. An action-packed second lap saw passes galore, with Tom Sykes making an error at turn 12 to allow Leon Haslam and Jordi Torres through – Torres now sixth from eighth on the grid, one of the strongest showings in WorldSBK by the Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki.

Alex Lowes was starting his comeback through the order, up to third position and ahead of Rea, who was starting to look vulnerable. Rea was now in fourth and his teammate, Leon Haslam and Eugene Laverty, were closing in.

On lap eight, Davies began to pull away and put some distance between himself and Lowes. Rea ran wide and took teammate Haslam with him; the Kawasaki riders were not looking like they were going to be able to mount a podium challenge. Lowes challenged Davies but was not able to make a pass. Further down the order, Toprak Razgatlioglu retired.

With Laverty dropping back from the battle for second and not able to initiate a challenge for the podium, Rea was starting his own resurgence, passing Lowes and pursuing Davies. Two laps later, and Haslam made his way past Lowes at turn one, pursuing his teammate and Davies in second.

Whilst Rea looked set for a guaranteed podium, teammate Haslam had other ideas and got ahead of the Ulsterman, taking over as the leader in the Kawasaki challenge. A lap later, and Rea repaid the compliment in identical fashion.

The penultimate lap beckoned, and it was Rea and Davies who renewed their rivalry. Rea put his trademark passing move on Davies at turn 4, slicing under the Welshman, only for the 2011 WorldSSP champion to fight back at turn 5. Leon Haslam, after initially being dropped by half-a-second, was now right back in the battle for the podium.

On the final lap, a mistake by Davies at turn one allowed Rea to come straight through and put in the lap of his life to put distance into Davies. Haslam wasn’t able to capitalise on the mistake by Davies and whilst Davies was coming back towards Rea into the final corner, there was nothing he could do to get ahead.

Bautista took the win, ahead of Rea by another huge margin; the ninth time that those two have finished in that order in 2019.

Davies completed the podium for the second time at the Aragon Round, whilst Haslam and Lowes completed the top five. Laverty took sixth, ahead of Jordi Torres, Michael van der Mark, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Sandro Cortese.

Marco Melandri was a dejected 11th, with Sykes right behind, having faded mid-race. Leon Camier and teammate Kiyonari were 13th and 14th respectively, whilst Markus Reiterberger finally finished at MotorLand Aragon, with 15th.

Alvaro Bautista – P1

“It has been a very special weekend for me, winning the three races in front of my fans! I enjoyed a lot the weekend. It was special for me here in Spain. Now we go to Assen, a race track which is different from this and where the weather changes so fast. It will be also my first time with the new bike, but we go there very confident and I can’t wait to be on the bike again.”

Jonathan Rea – P2

“It was a tougher Sunday than I expected and the strategy was different. Especially in the sprint race, I lost a lot of rear traction at the end. We think it was a consequence of being so fast in the beginning. During the 18-lap race I decided to be calmer in the beginning but when Alex Lowes came through he had a good pace with Chaz Davies. I started to panic a little bit that maybe these guys had an extra gear. And then Leon came past, so I had to step up and really use the tyre that I was conserving. My body language was a lot different at the end of the race because I really put my head down and maximised where we were strong. It looks like our bike is really creating a lot of traction in the long corners, which is positive. Our corner entry is not so bad. It was nice to see Leon in the front as well because our data becomes more relevant to compare and we can try to move the bike set-up forward together.”

Chaz Davies – P3

“It was a strong weekend for me, but I’m a bit disappointed about losing second place in Race 2. At the start of the last lap, I went in deep at Turn 1 and left the door open for Johnny, after which there wasn’t much chance of getting it back. At any rate, I was happy to back up yesterday’s result with another third position. It wasn’t easy in the wind, but we worked well this weekend to make big progress and I hope to build on that next weekend at Assen.”

Stefano Cecconi – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Team Principal

“It was another perfect weekend for Álvaro, which makes us really happy, but we are just as satisfied by the fact that Chaz got back on the podium and that he is getting more and more accustomed to the new Panigale V4 R. We hope that he will continue this string of positive results in the next few races.”

Leon Haslam – P4

“Starting from the fourth row was not ideal in the first two races so we used the sprint race to get back into it. The team has done mega-well from really struggling on Saturday morning to being able to battle for second place for Johnny. What a turnaround. I am really happy about what we have done here and I feel quite positive. In the sprint race I did not get the best of starts but it got me a better grid position for the final race. We made some steps in being able to pass people in the last race as well.”

Alex Lowes – P5

“After the podium in the sprint race this morning I was a little bit disappointed with fifth in Race 2, as I was expecting to be able to fight a little bit harder and longer with Jonathan and Chaz. It was nice to be battling with Leon again, after a couple of tough races for him, and we were nice and close a few times, especially into turn one! It was good fun, but I just didn’t have enough to stay in the battle until the end. The last two rounds have been strong ones for us and I’ve really enjoyed riding the R1, but now we just need to find small improvements so that we can fight it out over the last few laps of the race. Now I can’t wait to get to Assen, a track I and the Yamaha enjoy.”

Tom Sykes – P12

“Honestly, it has been a very positive weekend for the entire BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. I feel that we have again made some steps forward. I am very impressed and also there have been a lot of people inside the racing paddock who have commented on the potential of the BMW S 1000 RR, so I think we are heading in the right direction and are definitely making good progress. Everything was good, we were top five in most of the sessions and with the exception of my mistake in Superpole almost could have had pole. In the final race we did not have the correct rear traction, which is a shame because the bike did not change and on the same tyre I was so fast during the race weekend, so with my honest opinion and with my experience I certainly feel we perhaps did not have a tyre that was to its full potential. It was a bit of a disappointment on a great weekend but this is part of racing. Sometimes these things happen and we will be making up for this moving forward.”

World Superbike Race 2 Top 10 – Aragon

1. A. BAUTISTA ESP
2. J. REA GBR +6.867
3. C. DAVIES GBR +7.127
4. L. HASLAM GBR +7.581
5. A. LOWES GBR +11.549
6. E. LAVERTY IRL +16.797
7. J. TORRES ESP +17.825
8. M. VAN DER MARK NED +18.788
9. M. RINALDI ITA +19.329
10. S. CORTESE GER +20.351

World Superbike standings following Aragon

1. Alvaro Bautista 186 points
2. Jonathan Rea 147
3. Alex Lowes 100
4. Michael Van Der Mark 79
5. Leon Haslam 74
6. Marco Melandri 63
7. Chaz Davies 56
8. Sandro Cortese 56
9. Tom Sykes 39
10. Jordi Torres 35
11. Michael Ruben Rinaldi 35
12. Toprak Razgatlioglu 32
13. Eugene Laverty 27
14. Leon Camier 17
15. Markus Reiterberger 15
16. Leandro Mercado 11
17. Ryuichi Kiyonari 9
18. Alessandro Delbianco 3

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World Supersport

The FIM Supersport World Championship saw an intriguing race in the first part of the 16-lap encounter, before a traditional fairing-bashing battle took place in the final part of the race. Eventually, it was Randy Krummenacher who took the win to extend his championship lead at the top of the WorldSSP title race!

Starting well from pole position, 22-year-old Austrian Thomas Gradinger couldn’t fend off a courageous Federico Caricasulo into Turn 1, as the Italian took the lead. For Caricasulo’s teammate, Randy Krummenacher, it was another poor start, which saw Jules Cluzel take advantage. One rider who achieved a good start was Raffaele De Rosa, who, from sixth on the grid, was soon into fifth, ahead of Lucas Mahias and his Japanese teammate, Hikari Okubo.

Caricasulo and Gradinger pulled away, with a 1.7 second gap after just two laps of the MotorLand Aragon circuit. The battle for third saw Randy Krummenacher take advantage of Jules Cluzel at Turn 1 on lap three, and a lap later, it was De Rosa’s turn to pick off the fading Frenchman.

However, with the gaps forming, it was the riders in third and fourth who soon started lapping the faster times, and soon the 1.7s gap soon evaporated, with two back-to-back fastest laps coming from De Rosa on laps six and seven.

Despite Cluzel languishing in an isolated fifth position, the battle raged behind him, with Mahias, Okubo and Corentin Perolari and Europe Supersport Cup rider, Kyle Smith. Smith was able to get as high as sixth before dropping back, with Perolari coming through towards the end.

The battle at the front was now between four bikes and also, with a different race leader. Thomas Gradinger came through and passed Caricasulo at Turn 4, to become the first Austrian rider to lead a WorldSSP race. Austria’s dream of a WorldSSP race winner started to look like it was finally going to come to reality.

With four laps remaining, it was a wild WorldSSP race which saw Gradinger make a mistake at the final corner, dropping from first to fourth. Four riders abreast down the main straight, Caricasulo and De Rosa took over, whilst Krummenacher watched on holding his breath in third. The last lap was set to be a thriller, as De Rosa took the lead when Krummenacher made a mistake at Turn 12. Were we about to see the first non-Yamaha win for the first time in almost a year-and-a-half?

The last lap came around quickly and soon, the gloves were off! Krummenacher passed his teammate at Turn 1 and soon went in pursuit of race leader De Rosa. Gradinger was still in the battle in fourth, but unable to make any passes on the final lap, achieving his joint-best result.

Down the back straight and Krummenacher slipstreamed his way through, before slamming his Yamaha down the inside of De Rosa’s MV Agusta. Through the final corner and over the rise to the finish line, Krummenacher took a second win of the season, whilst De Rosa took his first podium of the year, with fellow countryman Federico Caricasulo in third. Gradinger was fourth.

Behind the leading quartet, Jules Cluzel’s damage limitation efforts saw him conclude in fifth position, with teammate Corentin Perolari, who took his best finish of the season. Lucas Mahias finally got the better of his teammate Hikari Okubo for seventh place, whilst Kyle Smith was top ESS rider in ninth. Completing the top ten was Isaac Viñales, who recovered to tenth after running wide in the early stages.

Completing the points was Peter Sebestyen, who was top Honda in the race after Hannes Soomer crashed on the final lap. Teammate Jules Danilo was just 0.116s behind him, whilst Federico Fuligni was a further 0.314s back. 14th and 15th went to Loris Cresson and Maria Herrera respectively.

Krummenacher gave Yamaha their 81st WorldSSP win, whilst giving Switzerland their first win on European soil, as well as achieving the nation’s 16th podium – putting them one behind the United States overall, 22 years after the first Swiss rider achieved a podium, with Yves Briguet at Monza, 1997.

Randy Krummenacher

“It was a really tough race. After the warm-up, I felt like I could have the chance to go away in the race, but the final laps were not that easy for me. When I finally got to the front, I tried hard to go away, but I made a little mistake and went wide. Fortunately, the final lap came out perfectly. I came out of the slipstream, brake a little bit later and I won! Thanks to my team and my family that always support me”.

World Supersport Race Results – Aragon

1. R. KRUMMENACHER SUI
2. R. DE ROSA ITA +0.094
3. F. CARICASULO ITA +0.158
4. T. GRADINGER AUT +0.732
5. J. CLUZEL FRA +3.312
6. C. PEROLARI FRA +12.626
7. L. MAHIAS FRA +12.890
8. H. OKUBO JPN +12.996
9. K. SMITH GBR +14.331
10. I. VINALES ESP +17.653

World Supersport Standings following Aragon

1. Randy Krummenacher 70 points
2. Jules Cluzel 56
3. Federico Caricasulo 48
4. Raffaele De Rosa 31
5. Hikari Okubo 28
6. Thomas Gradinger 24
7. Corentin Perolari 24
8. Hector Barbera 22
9. Lucas Mahias 21
10. Isaac Vinales 19

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World Supersport 300

It was a crazy return to action for the WorldSSP300 championship at the Motocard Aragon Round in 2019, with a flurry of action from the start to the end, making for an incredibly exciting season in prospect. The winner of the first race of the season was 16-years-old Manuel Gonzalez, whilst defending champion Ana Carrasco crashed out at Turn 13, making her title defence even harder work for the remainder of the season.

From lights out, it was a great start from Indonesian rider, Galang Hendra Pratama took the lead and to the amazement, led the field safely through the opening corners, with no casualties in a packed grid. Gonzalez took the lead early on but there was no escaping, as he oscillated back-and-forth, as riders passed each other to try and establish a constant running order.

As the race went on, Victor Steeman, Hugo De Cancellis and Maximilian Kappler all battled it out, whilst Andy Verdoia and Jan-Ole Jahnig joined the leading group.

It was a disaster in the middle of the race for the reigning champion, Ana Carrasco, as she crashed out after tangling with Koen Meuffels, who in-turn was having a tricky race having won at the track last season. Other falls consisted of sole Turkish rider Bahattin Sofuoglu crashing at Turn 2, as well as Indonesian Hendra Pratama, who crashed after contact with Verdoia at Turn 10; the Marc Marquez corner.

As the race reached the closing stages, all kinds of different riders entered the battle, with Omar Bonoli, Scott Deroue and Nick Kalinin all got in on the action. All three of them had raced through the field from 14th, 15th and 16th, all looking to take the opening win of the season from the lowest grid positions in WorldSSP300 history (that record held by Manuel Bastianelli of Prodina IRCOS Kawasaki, from 13th on the grid at Misano in 2018.

Into the last lap and it looked like we would get a victory from 14th, as Omar Bonoli took over at the front; the 17-year-old looking like he had the pace, before De Cancellis came passed at Turn 7 and immediately looked to break away. However, a fantastic move at Turn 9 by Manuel Gonzalez soon saw a last lap battle.

Into the final corner and Gonzalez made a move to the lead and pushed De Cancellis wide, holding on to the lead to take his first ever win as the second-youngest rider in the class! Completing the podium was Scott Deroue, starting his championship challenge off in fine style.

Behind them, Jahnig, Verdoia and Steeman, whilst completing the top ten was Bonoli, Bruno Ieraci who in-turn had come from the back of the grid after a penalty, 2018 Aragon winner Koen Meuffels and Maximilian Kappler.

Outside of the top ten were Robert Schotman, Mateo Perdeneau, Filippo Rovelli, Nick Kalinin and 2018 runner-up, Mika Perez. 2017 champion, Marc Garcia (DS Junior Team) could only manage 25th position on his return to the championship.

Manuel Gonzalez – P1

“I don’t have words to describe how happy I am. I really enjoyed riding today. The race was not easy, and especially the final lap was extremely difficult. There were many riders taking advantage of the slipstream on the straight, and it made it hard to keep the position. In the last corner, I was able to overtake De Cancellis and take victory. Thanks to my team for all the work they have done during this weekend”.

Scott Deroue – P3

“Yes it was incredible to come through for a podium. This weekend was quite hard and in qualifying I was not really good. I was not in the best place on the grid so I knew we had to something. I was just pushing, pushing – like unbelievably hard. I think this is one of my best races ever. I already won some races in this class but I think this race was the best ever.”

Ana Carrasco – DNF

“It is a pity to not score. We had some issues in the practice sessions and I started the race from the fourth row. In the race itself I felt myself to be very fast, and comfortable, so much so that we actually set a new lap record. Some bikes had better acceleration but in braking and top speed I was super strong. In the crash two guys in front of me touched and I had to close the throttle – then someone hit me from the back. It is a shame because I am sure I could have finished on top. I just want to say thanks to all people that came to see me here at Motorland, to my team and Kawasaki. I am on the bike again in only four days, at Assen – I can’t wait!”

Top performing Australian was Tom Edwards (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) in 19th, while Tom Bramich (Carl Cox-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) claimed 24th. Jack Hyde didn’t make the cut into the main race, finishing ninth in the Last Chance Race.

World Supersport 300 Race Results – Aragon

1. M. GONZALEZ ESP
2. H. DE CANCELLIS FRA +0.058
3. S. DEROUE NED +0.494
4. J. JAHNIG GER +0.545
5. A. VERDOÏA FRA +0.767
6. V. STEEMAN NED +0.865
7. O. BONOLI ITA +0.891
8. B. IERACI ITA +2.364
9. K. MEUFFELS NED +2.477
10. M. KAPPLER GER +2.544
11. R. SCHOTMAN NED +3.039
12. M. PEDENEAU FRA +3.043
13. F. ROVELLI ITA +3.268
14. N. KALININ UKR +3.392
15. M. PEREZ ESP +3.395
16. J. BUIS NED +4.141
17. D. IOZZO RSA +4.368
18. G. ERILL ESP +6.129
19. T. EDWARDS AUS +6.135
20. B. NEILA ESP +6.347
21. F. GOMEZ ESP +10.260
22. E. TOM KAWAKAMI BRA +10.412
23. K. ARDUINI ITA 17.357
24. T. BRAMICH AUS +23.896
25. M. GARCIA ESP +23.915
26. M. BASTIANELLI ITA +36.500
27. J. FORAY FRA +36.510

World Supersport 300 standings following Aragon

1. Manuel Gonzalez 25 points
2. Hugo De Cancellis 20
3. Scott Deroue 16
4. Jan-Ole Jahnig 13
5. Andy Verdoïa 11
6. Victor Steeman 10
7. Omar Bonoli 9
8. Bruno Ieraci 8
9. Koen Meuffels 7
10. Maximilian Kappler 6

Source: MCNews.com.au