SBK | Pirelli Aragon Round, Race 1: Rea wins but Davies is indomitable

Everything happened at the Motorland of Aragon in the first race of the third round of the season: the emotions of an adrenaline-filled start which saw Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies as protagonists were added to the fear of the bad accident involving them at turn 11, in the early stages, Jordi Torres, Lorenzo Savadori and Leon Camier, who fared the worst.

With the Honda rider in attendance, the race was promptly interrupted for around 20 minutes: the Englishman suffered a serious back injury, fortunately without compromising the mobility of his limbs and neck, and was first attended to at the Medical Center and then transported in hospital.

The race restarted with a quick start procedure with the positions determined by qualifying, forcing Chaz Davies to do it all over again: the Welsh driver, however, was not long in waiting and repeated the exciting start of a few minutes earlier.
The race was all about the duel between Jonathan Rea and the Panigales of Fores, Davies and Melandri: the Spanish rider from the Barni Racing team, in second position, tried to undermine the World Champion's leadership by coming very close to his first victory in career.
Jonathan Rea defended himself with his nails, racing over the tire and grip problems of his Ninja but in the end he managed to cross the finish line in first position, enjoying the sprint finish of Fores and Davies: the Welshman with an overtaking limits of the impossible at the last corner he mocked the Spaniard right at the checkered flag.

The disappointed face of the day is that of Marco Melandri who, after the sensational pole achieved a few hours earlier, was certainly expecting a result other than fourth place, with which he nevertheless keeps Michael Van der Mark's Yahama and Tom Sykes' Ninja behind today decidedly subdued so much so that he struggled to get the better of Rinaldi, making his debut with Team Junior Aruba.

Seventh place for Alex Lowes, ahead of the very young STK1000 Champion, with Toprak Razgatlioglu of the Puccetti Kawasaki team and Roman Ramos of the GoEleven Kawasaki team completing the top 10.

We would like to point out that Jordi Torres did not show up on the grid as his MV was completely destroyed by the accident, while Savadori regularly took part in the race again, finishing 15th.

Updates on Leon Camier's condition will follow as soon as they become available.

Next appointment with Race 2 tomorrow at 13pm.

Below is the order of arrival for Race 1:

1. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10RR 17 laps
2. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale R +1.450s
3. Xavi Fores ESP Barni Ducati Panigale R +1.473s
4. Marco Melandri ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale R +6.108s
5. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Yamaha YZF-R1 +8.932s
6. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10RR +9.450s
7. Alex Lowes GBR PATA Crescent Yamaha R1 +9.985s
8. Michael Ruben Rinaldi ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale R +19.303s
9. Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Puccetti Kawasaki ZX-10RR +26.081s
10. Roman Ramos ESP Team GoEleven Kawasaki ZX-10RR +26.325s
11. Loris Baz FRA Althea BMW S1000RR +26.571s
12. Jake Gagne USA Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR SP2 +26.858s
13. David Giugliano ITA Milwaukee Aprilia RSV4 +27.219
14. Yonny Hernandez COL Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10RR +28.340s
15. Lorenzo Savadori ITA Milwaukee Aprilia RSV4 +28.400s
16. PJ Jacobsen USA TripleM Honda CBR1000RR SP2 +30.799s
17. Ondrej Jezek CZE Guandalini Yamaha YZF-R1 +58.926s

Did not finish

Leandro Mercado ARG Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki ZX-10RR

Did not start

Jordi Torres ESP MV Agusta 1000 F4

Leon Camier GBR Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR SP2

Vladimir Leonov RUS SPB Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR