In the first ten-lap Superpole race on Sunday morning Rea had to fight hard to take second on his official Ninja ZX-10RR, holding off the constant challenges of Michael Ruben Rinaldi through the second half of the race.
Lowes placed sixth in the Superpole race, taking his first points of the season after having a fall in Race One on Saturday.
In the full distance 18-lap Race Two Rea was again involved in a battle that prevented him from trying to reel in double Sunday race winner Alvaro Bautista. Jonathan was finally second once again, having eased out a gap to the riders behind in the latter stages.
Lowes ended up in a lonely fifth place after 18 laps of the 5.077km Motorland Aragon track in Race Two, taking his best result of the opening weekend.
In the championship standings, Rea is second overall with 54 points to Bautista’s 57. Lowes is eighth overall, with 15 points.
Assen in The Netherlands will host the second round of the FIM Superbike World Championship, between 22-24 April.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “It was a battling Superpole race. All I could do was to race for second place and the contest with Toprak and Rinaldi was intense. I couldn’t really get a free lap to do my rhythm, but it was fun as well. To come out on top of that little ‘mini-battle’ was nice. Just like the Superpole race I just got involved with other riders in Race Two. I felt my pace was similar to Alvaro’s, but on clear track. Rinaldi and Toprak were so excited to take track position I just really struggled to do my rhythm. I needed clear track to be fast and it took a long time to get that. The race was very aggressive again. I made quite a few mistakes. It was windy out there - and the wind changed direction. Yesterday there was a big tailwind on the straight; today it was a headwind, pushing you at T1 as well. But I am happy with the results. If I could have guaranteed these results on Monday, I would have signed up for them. To be best of the rest today I have to be really happy and move forward to Assen.”
Alex Lowes, stated: “I have struggled all week to find a good setting, even though I have worked hard. Maybe I worked too much in the winter on used tyres because when it came time to be fast I wasn’t quite as fast as I wanted to be. Today, I was happy because it was faster than we managed last year in terms of race times. In hotter conditions I felt quite good and I was not too far off the guys at the front. We are just lacking a few tenths, but we are also step in front of the others. It is not too bad, we just have a little bit of work to do.”
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was a strong 11th in Race Two, after finishing 14th in the Superpole race. Oliver König (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was 23rd and then 22nd today. Loris Cresson (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) was 24th and then 23rd.
2022 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics
Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020
2022: Races 3, Wins 1, Podiums 3, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 113 (98 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 218 (176 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 35 (31 for Kawasaki)
Alex Lowes:
2022: Races: 3, Wins 0, Podiums 0, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 2 (1 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 29 (9 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 1 (0 for Kawasaki)
8 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Tom Sykes 2013, Rea 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
6 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016, Ninja ZX-10RR 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020)
5 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019)
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 172 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 492 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 100 – second overall
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