WorldSBK Results | Aragon Race 2 | Redding hits jackpot on slick risk this time

Scott Redding produced a tactically redemptive performance to secure his and Ducati’s first win of the 2021 WorldSBK Championship in Aragon following a bold but inspired slick tyre selection on a damp track.

With intermittent rain keeping the lengthy circuit somewhat varied in terms of grip, almost the entire field played it safe with intermediate rubber with the exception of Redding and Chaz Davies.

Though Davies demonstrated exactly why he was in the minority with his slid off at Turn 4 on the opening lap, Redding held his nerve and waited for the circuit to come to him, holding station in sixth initially before picking his rivals off to put his ideally-shod Dicato into the lead by six.

Proceeding to multiply his advantage for the remainder of the race, Redding crossed the line  almost ten seconds clear of the chasing pack. The result is particularly fitting given Redding was the minority at the other end of the scale choosing wet tyres in a drying Superpole Race, leaving him eighth.

With Redding regaining some points back on anticipated title rival Jonathan Rea, the Ulsterman will nonetheless be thankful the difference wasn’t chunkier when he was fortunate not to be taken down by am ambitious overtake attempt at Turn 14 by an impatient Garrett Gerloff.

On the limit of perhaps considered ‘racing’ and ‘reckless’, the late lunge brought Gerloff down and sent Rea taking the ‘Playstation’ shortcut across the complex, slipping back to fourth.

Bizarrely in all of this kerfuffle, Toprak Razgatlioglu was the big winner going from fifth to first in just two corners as incidents unfolded ahead.

However, this wasn’t to be Yamaha’s strongest race, with the fight for the remaining podium positions a tussle between Kawasaki and, for the first time in a while, BMW.

As has often been the case at other venues, the BMW M 1000 RR shares the trait of working better in cooler conditions with Michael van der Mark pushing on in the slippery conditions to briefly lead before Redding steamed through.

The Dutchman gamely succeeded in resisting the Kawasakis of Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea, his more daring efforts under braking keeping him in front until five laps to go when Rea slipped through and was promptly followed by Lowes, who completed a podium brace for Kawasaki in all three races.

Also getting the better of van der Mark was Tom Sykes, who - perhaps against reputation - showed impressive late pace to defeat his new team-mate in what remains BMW’s best result in WorldSBK since 2019.

Razgatlioglu faded after his early rally at the front of the field, ahead of Gerloff, who staged an impressive fight back from the tangle with Rea that left him on the deck and earned him a long lap penalty too.

Jonas Folger made impressive gains in the final race of the day aboard the MGM Bonovo BMW, claiming eighth, ahead of Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli and Lucas Mahias.

A torrid end to the weekend for Honda, Alvaro Bautista could only manage 11th, while Leon Haslam failed to finish after a crash.

2021 WorldSBK Aragon - Race 2 Results