2022 World Superbike Aragon, Spain - Free Practice (3) Results

Loris Baz sets the pace ahead of the opening World Superbike qualifying session of 2022.

FP3 began with big hitters Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista choosing to remain in pit lane, while Loris Baz went quickest aboard his Bonovo Action M 1000 RR. 

Baz’ time was then bettered by close to six tenths as reigning world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu went quickest on a 1:50.062s. 

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• Lecuona concedes 'we are a few tenths short', Vierge finds good 'consistency' 
• MotoGP Austin: Johann Zarco leads Ducati 1-2, but Alex Rins the favourite?

Joining the Turkish sensation in the low 1m 50s was Michael Rinaldi as the Italian instead pipped his former Stock 600 rival by -0.054s. 

As the battle continued, Razgatlioglu looked set to jump back to the top courtesy of going quickest in sector three. 

However, the Pata Yamaha rider lost time in S4, thus allowing Rinaldi to remain fastest. 

Bautista, who was now out on-track, as was six-time World Superbike champion Rea, went third with just his first flying lap. 

The Spaniard’s next lap around was supremely quick as he set a time of 1:49.644s - +0.344s in front of team-mate Rinaldi. 

Despite being out on-track with the rest of the field, Rea was unable to make a hot start like in FP1 and FP2. The Kawasaki rider went seventh after the initial flurry of laps - +1.127s off Bautista. 

Ahead of Rea was Endurance World Championship rider Ilya Michalchik, as the Ukrainian made an impressive start to the first day. 

Stunning throughout pre-season, rookie Philipp Oettl then made it a Ducati 1-2-3 as he split the two factory riders. 

Not prepared to push in the slightly cooler conditions, Rea dropped down to eighth Garrett Gerloff went fifth. 

After fitting a new rear tyre Baz regained top spot, while Bautista suffered a first crash of the weekend at turn nine. It was a typical front-end washout at the corkscrew for the former MotoGP man. 

After looking comfortable without setting a quick lap, Rea chose to do exactly that as he went P3.

Official Aragon WorldSBK Records 

Fastest Lap - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki 1m 48.458s. 

Most Wins - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki (8) 

2021 Aragon WorldSBK Race Winners 

Race 1 - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki

Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki

Race 2 - Scott Redding GBR Ducati 

Day-one of the 2022 WorldSBK season opener

FP2 was topped by Aruba.it Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista after the Spaniard elected to fit the purple-banded SCQ (Superpole) tyre, something Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu chose not to do. 

Rea, who was quickest by nearly four tenths in FP1, remained top on combined times despite not improving the second practice. 

It was a tough start for BMW as their pre-season struggles rolled into the opening day of Aragon World Superbike action. 

Standing in for the injured Michael Van Der Mark, Michalchik was fastest of the German manufacturer’s four riders in ninth, while the factory team’s big acquisition Scott Redding was last after he finished 14th in FP2. 

World Superbike rookie Hafizh Syahrin also had a difficult day after technical issues at the very beginning of FP1 hampered his time on-track. 

Weekend Schedule - 2022 Aragon WorldSBK

Saturday 

10:10-10:25 - WorldSBK Superpole (UK)

13:00 - WorldSBK Race 1 (UK)

Sunday 

08:00-08:15 - WorldSBK Warm-up (UK)

10:00 - WorldSBK Superpole Race (UK) 

13:00 - WorldSBK Race 2 (UK)