Scott Redding tops WorldSBK Aragon test as Rea sits it out

Scott Redding rounded out an impressive start to life as a WorldSBK Championship rider by putting in the miles and emerging with the quickest lap time during post-season testing at Motorland Aragon.

Having turned heads by running five-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea close on day one – his first out on the Aruba.it Ducati Panigale V4 R with the full electronics package – Redding made the most of his rival’s absence on day two to come out top.

Though rain on both days limited running, Redding squeezed in 111 laps of the Alcaniz circuit with his time of 1m 49.929s putting him two tenths clear of team-mate Chaz Davies in what will no doubt be a welcome psychological boost on his first effort.

With Rea deciding not to risk it in the dicey conditions, Alex Lowes was left as the sole representative for the Kawasaki Racing Team, the Briton ending his first test on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR in third place but seven tenths down on Redding.

Pata Yamaha enjoyed a solid opening with its new R1 superbike Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu setting the fourth and fifth best laps, followed by their ‘Junior’ GRT team counterparts Garrett Gerloff – impressing on his first European test outing – and Federico Caricasulo, while Leon Camier brought up the rear of the eight bikes on his Barni Ducati after only completing four laps.

Attention now switches to Jerez for the final WorldSBK outing of 2019, where the participating teams will likely be joined by BMW. The new Honda HRC team is yet to confirm its plans to roll out the new Honda CBR1000RR-R.

WorldSBK Motorland Aragon Test - RESULTS (Day 2)