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SBK, Rea and Kawasaki uncatchable at Aragón

In the tests in Spain the World Champion and his ZX10R are still at the top of the list, Sykes and Davies follow just a few tenths behind. Melandri better and better

Rea and Kawasaki uncatchable at Aragón

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The second day of SBK tests at Aragón has also come to a close, without any great surprises in terms of the competitiveness demonstrated: Jonathan Rea and his Kawasaki ZX10R are still the duo to beat and, although it was only a 2017 preseason test, the result appears almost to be a verdict. Next year, the two-time World Champion and the green machine from Akashi will be the strongest and most consistent rider/bike combination.

With an official time of 1’49’8, the Northern Irishman beat everyone but, not far behind, were Tom Sykes, Rea’s teammate, and Chaz Davies with his Ducati. The time differences between the defending champion and his closest rivals are only a few tenths, but significant: with a time of 50”3-1’50”4 the second and third place riders in the championship respectively are still… second and third in the test that just ended.

There was more excellent performance today from Marco Melandri, increasingly more at ease in the saddle of his Panigale SBK. Marco continued working with the new team and perfecting his riding style astride the twin-cylinder from Bologna. The gap of just three tenths behind his more expert teammate, Davies, shows how the former 250 world champion is working methodically, without haste and with the right wrist ('right' in more ways than one).

We should point out that over the two days of testing, the Ducati Aruba team riders did a lot of work on the Öhlins suspension systems that had already been tested after the Jerez round and, with a track temperature below 15°C, both Chaz and Marco preferred to avoid any pointless risks

The pair of Honda riders rode the old CBR Fireblade again on the second day, whereas the American rider, Hayden used the test as good training. The German new entry, Stefan Bradl continued his apprenticeship with the new team, bike and Pirelli tyres that he had never before tried.

Judging from the official times, team Yamaha is still lagging behind: if new Dutch arrival, Michael Van der Mark, after a bad crash, can be justified by some extenuating circumstances, the much more expert Alex Lowes, who has known the R1 for at least a year, should have put in a bit more effort on the flying lap, at least for his and the factory Pata team’s morale.

Official times at Aragón:

Johnny Rea 1’49”8

Tom Sykes 1’50”3

Chaz Davies 1’50”4

Marco Melandri 1’50”7

Nicky Hayden 1’50”8

Stefan Bradl 1’51”0

Alex Lowes 1’51”3

Michael Van der Mark 1’51”6

The next scheduled SBK tests will be held at Jerez de la Frontera next week, from Monday 21 November to Friday 25 November.

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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