WSBK: Duel to the Finish for Race 1 at Aragon

With the weather being fair, though cooler and windier at Aragon than some would prefer, World Superbike racing was underway in Spain as Tom Sykes sat on pole…yet again. Fast on Saturday’s, the Englishman has been unable to convert his Superpole dominance into real race results, though the Kawasaki Racing racer was the only rider during qualifying to break into the 1’36 timezone.

Showing more promise with their race pace were the factory Aprilias of Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty, who will start second and third on the grid, respectively. Rounding out the front row was Leon Haslam, who bested his teammate Marco Melandri.

With the lights going out, it was Sykes who lead Laverty, Biaggi, Melandri, and Davide Giugliano through the first turn. Not everyone would get through the first turn though, as Jonathan Rea and several others got mixed up in a multi-bike pile-up in Turn 1.

Despite having a golden moment in the Championship from this incident, Skyes’ lead at the front would be short-lived as Laverty and then Biaggi would get past him. As Biaggi took over from his teammate, Sykes again found himself mugged, this time by Melandri who was on a charge to the front.

With 16 laps to go, Melandri was past Laverty, and the battle for first between the two Italians was underway. Going all the way down to the final laps, both Biaggi and Melandri had their moments in front, but it was the BMW’s worn tires that proved to be the fatal flaw in Melandri’s attack plane. Able to manage his tread to the end, Biaggi took a comfortable, but close, win over his rival.

With nine seconds between the front-runners and podium-man Carlos Checa, the gap was mainly due to the massive pace put down by Biaggi and Melandri, but was also aided by Sykes and Badovini coming together with two laps remaining, as the Italian lost the front tire, and took out Sykes in the process.

Race 1 Results from World Superbike at Aragon, Spain:

Source: WSBK