WorldSBK Aragon Race 2 Results: Not even Rea can defeat himself
Jonathan Rea almost defeats himself with a late error while leading comfortably but the WorldSBK champion successfully repels late pressure from Chaz Davies
Jonathan Rea has regained the lead in the 2020 WorldSBK Championship standings with victory in race two despite almost throwing it away with a mistake in the closing stages.
The Ulsterman appeared on course for a comfortable victory having opened up a 1.5secs lead over the opposition when with four laps remaining he ran wide on the exit of the long final left-hander forcing him to sit up to avoid the gravel trap.
The scrub of speed allowed Davies to immediately pounce, passing into Turn 1, but Rea fought right back with a thrilling side-by-side battle for the next few corners before the Kawasaki man edged back ahead.
From here there was no mistake as Rea pushed on to dismiss the threat posed by Davies, his seventh win of the year regaining him the series lead over Scott Redding, who could only manage fourth having run second early on before fading.
Honda is celebrating its first WorldSBK podium with the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade - and its first as a manufacturer since 2016 - after Alvaro Bautista produced a fine performance to secure third, going toe-to-toe with Redding and Michael van der Mark and coming out on top.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi completed the top five on the privateer Go Eleven Ducati from Michael van der Mark with Leon Haslam prevailing in a six-way fight for seventh, ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu, Alex Lowes and Garrett Gerloff.
WorldSBK Aragon - Race Results 2
2020 Aragon WorldSBK, Motorland Aragon - Race Results (2) | |||||
Pos | Driver | Nat | Team | Model | Time |
1 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 19 Laps |
2 | Chaz Davies | GBR | Aruba.it Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | +1.280 |
3 | Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +3.599 |
4 | Scott Redding | GBR | Aruba.it Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | +5.445 |
5 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Team GOELEVEN | Ducati Panigale V4 R | +6.687 |
6 | Michael van der Mark | NED | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +9.561 |
7 | Leon Haslam | GBR | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +20.911 |
8 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +21.248 |
9 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | +21.399 |
10 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Junior WorldSBK | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +21.717 |
11 | Xavi Fores | ESP | Kawasaki Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | +21.809 |
12 | Tom Sykes | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW S1000RR | +22.012 |
13 | Federico Caricasulo | ITA | GRT Junior WorldSBK | Yamaha YZF-R1 | +25.244 |
14 | Eugene Laverty | IRL | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW S1000RR | +30.088 |
15 | Maximilian Scheib | CHI | Orelac Racing Verdnatura | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | +36.546 |
16 | Sylvain Barrier | FRA | Brixx Performance | Ducati Panigale V4 R | +49.074 |
17 | Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Nuova M2 Racing | Aprilia RSV4 1000 | +55.511 |
18 | Takumi Takahashi | JPN | MIE Racing Althea | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +1m > |
19 | Lorenzo Gabellini | ITA | MIE Racing Althea | Honda CBR1000RR-R | +1m > |
DNF | Roman Ramos | ESP | Outdo Kawasaki TPR | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | |
DNF | Marco Melandri | ITA | Barni Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | |
DNF | Loris Baz | FRA | Ten Kate Racing | Yamaha YZF-R1 | |
DNS | Leandro Mercado | ARG | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R |