Image: Supplied.

Alvaro Bautista experienced a near-perfect return to Aruba.it Racing – Ducati at Aragon, winning race two and the Superpole race as WorldSSP victories were split between Dominique Aegerter and Lorenzo Baldassari with Alvaro Diaz and Marc Garcia on top in WorldSSP300.

It was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who narrowly clinched the opening race victory, just 0.090s ahead of Bautista, who was 5.3s clear of current champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) in third.

Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) completed the top five, as Team HRC WSBK newcomers Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge were P6 and P7.

Positions eight to 10 were occupied by Illia Mykhalchyk (BMW Motorrad WSBK Team), Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW). Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WSBK Team) was P15 on his BMW racing debut.

Bautista dominated the Superpole race to finish 5.1s ahead of Rea, with Razgatlioglu again in third, ahead of Rinaldi and Locatelli.

Race two saw again saw Bautista ultimately finish with a comfortable advantage over Rea, as the six-time WorldSBK champion secured P2 and a strong haul of points to start the season. Razgatlioglu was third, atop of Rinaldi and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team).

Axle Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) finished an impressive sixth, with returning Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW in seventh) ahead of Vierge, Gerloff and Lecuona.

Bautista leads the championship standings following round one, three points clear of Rea with Razgatlioglu a further 15 back.

Image: Supplied.

WorldSSP race one saw a duel between Baldassarri and current defending champion Dominque Aegerter, the Italian finishing on top after a remarkable last corner save. Third was Kawasaki Puccetti Racing’s Can Oncu.

Aegerter made it count in race two, narrowly clinching a 0.030s victory over Baldassarri as Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing Supersport Team) was third. Points wise, Aegerter and Baldassarri are equal on 45, as Bulega sits in third on 27.

Australian Oli Bayliss (Barni Spark Racing Team) completed his first weekend in his maiden WorldSSP campaign, notching 21-19 results.

Image: Supplied.

It was all Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) in the first WorldSSP300 outing, securing a commanding 4.4s victory over Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) who had a 4.7s margin over Lennox Lehmann in third (Freudenberg KTM -Paigo Racing).

Race two saw Diaz strike back, finishing ahead of Garcia as Lehmann crossed the line once more in third. The result sees Garcia and Diaz level on points leaving Aragon, with Lehmann 13 points adrift.

Australia’s Harry Khouri suffered a DNF in race one following a first lap incident, before rebounding to finish race two in P18.

Detailed results