Following a brilliant 18 lap contest at the Pirelli Aragón Round Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) maintained his 100% record so far in 2017, taking full advantage of a late crash for Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), whilst Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) completed the podium.

Rea made it five wins from five this year after putting pressure on provisional race leader Davies for most of the race, with Ducati’s Welsh rider crashing out at the penultimate turn of the penultimate lap. The victory puts Rea 47 points clear of Sykes at the head of the championship.

Melandri was another beneficiary of Davies’ unfortunate crash as he crossed the line in second, the Italian outpacing Sykes as the pair battled for prominence. Sykes’ third place in the race moves him up to second in the general standings.

Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) secured an excellent fourth place finish, ahead of Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) who completed the top five.

Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) was the best Spanish finisher in sixth, with Leandro Mercado (IODARacing), Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) and Nicky Hayden (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) all in the top ten. Bradl did well for ninth after technical problems earlier in Tissot Superpole 2.

Ayrton Badovini (Grillini Racing Team) retired early in the race due to a technical problem with his Kawasaki ZX-10R.

Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) was forced to stop in the final stages due to a technical problem which caused his Ducati Panigale R to catch fire. It was an disappointing end to Fores’ race after he had remounted and battled on having crashed early on when fighting for fourth with Sykes at turn 1.

Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was 11th and Markus Reiterberger (Althea BMW Racing Team) did well for 12th after starting from pit lane due to an issue before the race.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) put in a 1’50.062 lap late in FP2 at MotorLand Aragon on Friday afternoon to complete the day as the quickest man on track, with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) also in the top three on the timesheet.

Rea earlier carried out a 19-lap run at the beginning of the session, gathering plenty of information ahead of Saturday’s Race 1, the fifth race of the season. The year has started with four consecutive wins for the defending World Champion already.

A good lap by Melandri towards the end of FP2, as he went round just 0.099s behind Rea, saw him finish the session second, with Sykes in third (+0.243).

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) recovered from a difficult FP1 to finish fourth best in FP2, with Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) completing the top five.

Spaniards Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) and Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) were sixth and seventh fastest respectively, ahead of Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) in the top ten.

Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) and Nicky Hayden (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) were both inside the top 12 but will have to try their luck in Tissot Superpole 1 on Saturday.

Just under 15 minutes before the end of the session the safety stewards around the track raised their white flags to advise the riders that spots of rain were beginning to fall, but a number of FP2 participants were still able to improve their lap times in the final minutes.

Rea was also the fastest rider in FP1 on Friday morning at the Pirelli Aragón Round, his 1’50.570 putting him ahead of his rivals at the head of the timesheet in front of Lowes and Fores.

Davies was hindered by a technical issue in FP1, only riding for a short time and ending up at the foot of the timesheet with a 1'53.896 best lap, +3.326s off the pace, with smoke pouring from his Ducati Panigale R at one stage.

The Superpole 2 action at the Pirelli Aragón Round saw Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) secure a pole position start for Race 1, courtesy of a 1’49.319 best lap. The Welsh rider is joined on the front row by Jonathan Rea and the World Champion’s Kawasaki Racing Team colleague Tom Sykes.

As the riders ran with a new Pirelli qualifying tyre in the final minutes of the session at the MotorLand Aragon circuit Davies outpaced his rivals, with Rea qualifying +0.031s behind the Ducati man, followed by Sykes who was +0.173s off P1.

Italian rider Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) heads row two, in front of two Spaniards Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) and Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team). Row three, meanwhile, is to comprise Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) and Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia).

Nicky Hayden (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) came through as the leader of Tissot Superpole 1 to qualify tenth.

Five minutes into the Tissot Superpole 2 shootout Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) pulled off track due to a technical problem with his Yamaha YZF R1, effectively ending his session as he qualified 12th. Later it was Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) who was another victim of technical issues as his Honda CBR1000RR came to a sudden halt, leaving him 11^th on the grid.

Hayden had earlier topped the Tissot Superpole 1 timesheet with a 1’50.945s lap time - and his teammate Bradl had also made it through to Superpole 2 from the first session.

Crashes in close succession for Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Ondrej Jezek (Grillini Racing Team) and Markus Reiterberger (Althea BMW Racing Team) towards the end of Tissot Superpole 1 saw them all slide out of contention and unable to challenge for Superpole 2 positions.