WorldSBK Aragon Test Results | Rea edges Razgatlioglu, Bautista as testing ends

Jonathan Rea earned himself a filip ahead of this weekend’s opening round of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship at Motorland Aragon by topping the final pre-season test session at the same venue.

With the 24 full-time riders (plus wild-card Gabriele Ruiu) present in Spain ahead of the first round, it was arguably the best gauge yet as to what to expect when racing gets underway this weekend.

A triple winner in Aragon last year, Rea was on fine form as he broke the lap record in the final session of the test as the only rider to dip into the 1m 48secs bracket on the factory Kawasaki ZX-10RR.

It was enough to keep reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu at bay on the Pata Yamaha, though the Turk will be encouraged by his performance this week around a circuit he has historically struggled on in the past.

Alvaro Bautista confirmed he will be a reckoned force on his return to the factory Ducati team, the Spaniard - a triple winner for the Italian manufacturer in 2019 - going third quickest to ensure three manufacturers inside the top three.

Garrett Gerloff was once again the highest-placed independent rider in fourth, the American rider signing off an impressive pre-season on the GRT Yamaha, though he was pushed hard by Loris Baz, the Bonovo Action rider showing an impressive step up in form to be comfortably the fastest BMW entry.

Andrea Locatelli was sixth best on the second of the factory Yamahas, ahead of Ducati’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi, while Iker Lecuona shrugged off a Turn 2 crash to set the eighth best time for the factory HRC Honda team. Returning to action from a rib injury, his Honda team-mate Xavi Vierge was ninth best, with Philipp Oettl a fine tenth fastest on the Go Eleven Ducati.

Elsewhere, Scott Redding was a modest 11th best, with his team-mate for the weekend - Ukraine’s Ilya Mikhalchik - steadily improving to go 14th quickest.

Meanwhile, Roberto Tamburini was a noteworthy 16th on his first outing with the Motoxracing Yamaha squad, the experienced Italian only called up to compete in WorldSBK for the first time a few days earlier.

2022 WorldSBK Championship | Motorland Aragon, Spain | Testing RESULTS [Combined]