Jonathan Rea satisfied with 'positive weekend' as Alvaro Bautista claims Sunday double at Aragon

Kawasaki rider Rea, who made the perfect start to the new season with a last-corner victory over Bautista to win Saturday’s first race by just 0.090s, was satisfied with his results as he begins his quest to win back the world title in 2022.

“If you had given me that coming here, I’d have signed straight away,” Rea said.

“To have a weekend like we’ve had, I’m really happy. It was a really positive weekend and I’m looking forward now to going to Assen.”

Rea had no answer to Spaniard Bautista in the 10-lap Superpole race, with the 37-year-old hitting the front and using the clear speed advantage of the Panigale V4R on the straight to edge clear.

Rea became embroiled in a battle for the runner-up spot with reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi on the second of the factory Ducati machines, but it was the Northern Ireland man who had enough in reserve on his Ninja ZX-10RR to secure the runner-up spot, five seconds behind Bautista.

Pole man Razgatlioglu claimed the final rostrum place after an aggressive move on Rinaldi on the final lap as he finished 0.876s behind Rea.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) and Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes – a faller in Saturday’s race – completed the top six.

In race two, Rea made a flying start to take the lead before Bautista came through to hit the front, with the superior speed of his Ducati once again allowing him to capitalise on the one kilometre-long main straight.

He withstood early challenges from team-mate Rinaldi, Rea and Razgatlioglu before putting some daylight between himself and the chasing trio, eventually going on to wrap up a Sunday double by 4.4s.

Rea’s chances weren’t helped when he lost ground on the leader after running wide at the first corner as he battled with Rinaldi, but he salvaged a crucial 20 points in second place while Razgatlioglu rallied in the final stages of the race to take third.

Rinaldi finished fourth after dropping back, with Lowes safe in fifth and Axel Bassani sixth on the Motocorsa Racing Ducati.

Bautista was celebrating his first World Superbike victories since 2019 and underscored his credentials as a title contender again following his move back to Ducati after two seasons at Honda.

He holds a slender lead of three points over Rea after round one, with Razgatlioglu 18 points behind the early championship pacesetter in third.

Eugene Laverty, 10th on Saturday, finished 11th in the Superpole race and 12th in race two on the Bonovo Action BMW.

It was a miserable weekend for Scott Redding, who finished 15th in race one and12th in the Superpole race before retiring from race two on the factory BMW.

Redding has been one of the key title contenders in recent seasons but the scale of the task he faces this season has been laid bare following his move to the German team from Ducati.

Round two takes place at Assen in the Netherlands from April 22-24.