WSBK: Aragon
The first round of WSBK 2021 kicked off with Jonathan Rea making history, once again
Jonathan Rea starts 2021 on a high by taking victory and setting a new record with his 100th career win
ThE FiRST ROunD OF ThE 2021 Motul FiM Superbike World championship took place at Motorland Aragon and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) claimed the first pole position of the year by smashing the lap record and setting a time of 1’48.458. he was joined on the front row by Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
Rea took off to a good start and retained the lead but he had to constantly fight off pressure from teammate, Alex lowes, who was also astride the brand-new Kawasaki ninja ZX10RR. Redding was unable to capitalize on his front-row start, though, and ran third in the early parts of the race. he was soon overtaken by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRiXX WorldSBK) who promptly took off to challenge the Kawasakis.
With Rea running away at the front, Razgatlioglu fought for the second place with lowes but the latter beat him to the finish-line, leaving the Turkish rider to finish in third place.
With the win, Rea became the first rider in WSBK history to score 100 victories and joins the exclusive club along with Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi to become a member of the only trio to score 100 victories each in two-wheeled road racing events. Furthermore, Rea is also the only man to do it in a single class of racing.
The defending champion’s splendid form continued into the Tissot Superpole Race where his choice of intermediate tyres paid off and he racked up another victory with lowes in second place for company. Third place was earned by Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
Race two was a different game altogether and quite dramatic as well. Thanks to rain earlier in the day, the race started on a wet but fast-drying track and through the course of the race, it played to Redding’s advantage. he had gambled by opting for slicks and put it to good use. he caught the rest of the pack and blitzed to a phenomenal win, ahead of Rea and lowes in second and third places respectively. Gerloff made an early charge for the lead and overtook lowes but things unravelled when he challenged Rea. During the move, Gerloff made contact with Rea and ended up coming off his motorcycle and sent the latter for a trip through the gravel. he was able to rejoin the race and became the first rider in WSBK to receive a long lap Penalty.
in terms of the championship, Rea leads with 57 points, followed by lowes and Redding with 45 and 40 points respectively.