World Superbike

After a dramatic Prosecco DOC Aragon Round, the 2020 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship remains at the exciting Alcañiz venue for a second weekend and the Pirelli Teruel Round. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) extended his lead at the top of the standings to ten points after two wins picked up last weekend, but Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) is hot on his heels, making for yet another thrilling dynamic in the Championship race.

Topping the standings and winning twice at a circuit he’s not been renowned for winning on, Jonathan Rea’s classy showing saw an extension to his advantage after Race 2. The Ulsterman now has five wins at a track where Ducati have also been the manufacturer to beat. Can Rea do the same again this weekend and consolidate the Championship lead further? Teammate Alex Lowes will certainly hope for improvements; a huge Race 1 crash coupled with just 11 points being scored has seen him slip to sixth overall. A podium is required for the early-season Championship leader.

Scott Redding was able to take a Race 1 victory and second in the Tissot Superpole Race but a fourth in Race 2 saw him lose his Championship lead that he picked up on Saturday afternoon. The British rider knows that he must take some points from Rea this weekend to swing the momentum in his favour. It was a welcome reignition of the rivalry between Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) and Jonathan Rea in Race 2, the two battling hard with 4 laps to go. Davies is eager for a first win of 2020 and to reclaim MotorLand Aragon as his own. Fourth in the standings, he’s closing in fast.

It was the worst weekend of the season for the PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team pairing of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark. Toprak’s best result was sixth whilst van der Mark put in a valiant ride to complete the podium in Sunday morning’s Tissot Superpole Race. The Dutchman will hope to build on that pace and fulfil his and the bike’s potential in the upcoming Teruel event, whilst Razgatlioglu desperately needs a podium or victory; 65 points back from Jonathan Rea, the title could start slipping from his grasp if a big result isn’t achieved soon.

One of the big stories heading to the Pirelli Teruel Round is that Honda, after just four rounds of the CBR1000RR-R SP, are on the podium. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) put in a superb ride, managing his softer compound SCX rear tyre to the end of the race to pick up a rostrum, just 3.5s behind the victory. He and Honda are genuine podium threats this weekend and after so much testing and now a race weekend, maybe they could even challenge for victory. Teammate Leon Haslam was seventh in Race 2, filling the Brit with confidence ahead of the first ever Pirelli Teruel Round at MotorLand.

It was a weekend to forget for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. Tom Sykes crashed in Tissot Superpole, leaving him in his worst grid position after Superpole since 2011, whilst Eugene Laverty had a mechanical issue before Race 1 even started. Neither rider scored points in Race 1 or the Tissot Superpole Race, whilst Sykes was 12th and Laverty 14th in Race 2. They’ll be hoping for better results during the Teruel meeting and that at least a good Superpole can propel them up the order, so they can fight at the very front. Watch out for a vast BMW improvement this weekend.

The Independent battle is raging; Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) is now top ahead of Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) with 15 points between them. Rinaldi’s first podium could come soon, perhaps even this weekend, whilst Baz needs a stable race weekend in terms of results. Behind them are Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) and Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), separated by just a point. Gerloff was in the battle for seventh with Fores in Race 2 and the Spaniard himself took a best result of the year with eighth in Race 1. Gerloff’s teammate, Federico Caricasulo, was ninth again in Race 1 whilst Marco Melandri (Barni Racing Team) aims for more a top ten return.

Maximilian Scheib (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) had a good showing in Race 1 until a crash but got his first points since Australia in Race 2. Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) took his Ducati to 12th in Race 1 for his best result of 2020 and aims for more this weekend. will Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing Honda Team) took his first point of the year in Race 1, and Roman Ramos (OUTDO TPR Kawasaki) will once again deputise for the injured Sandro Cortese. Lorenzo Gabellini is absent after Althea parted company with MIE Racing.

World Supersport

The FIM Supersport World Championship action comes thick and fast with a second round at MotorLand Aragon. A familiar circuit to everyone on the grid following the first weekend at Aragon, the Pirelli Teruel Round should be full of excitement and action throughout the weekend as riders look to close in on the Championship leader.

Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) goes into the Teruel Round having won all seven races in 2020 following a double success at MotorLand Aragon. The Italian rookie, who moved across from Moto2™ for the 2020 season, has claimed every pole position, fastest lap and race win in 2020 and will be looking to continue that success with more victories at the Teruel Round. Locatelli goes into the round with a 45-point Championship lead and will be looking to build on that throughout the round.

Locatelli’s nearest rival in WorldSSP is Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) after the Frenchman secured two more second places in the Championship meaning he has now scored six second places out of seven in 2020. Cluzel has shown remarkable consistency to secure so many second-place finishes and will be looking to go one better and end Locatelli’s remarkable run. Will he stand on the top step of the podium at Aragon?

Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) lies third in the Championship after claiming two more top-five finishes at MotorLand Aragon as he lost ground on the riders in front of him. Mahias showed strong pace in the early stages of the race to fight with Locatelli and Cluzel but fell back as the race progressed. Mahias will be hoping he can fight for a longer period throughout the two races during the Teruel Round.

Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) has moved up to fourth place in the Championship following a podium and fourth place at the Aragon Round; the German rider looking to continue his impressive form at MotorLand Aragon. Oettl has two podiums in 2020, both third places, and will be looking to add to his podium count with two more races at Aragon.

Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) lies fifth in the Championship following the Aragon Round where he finished in tenth place and seventh place; losing out to Oettl in the Championship as well as losing ground to those chasing him. With a podium to his name in 2020, at the season-opening Australian Round, will Perolari be able to return to the rostrum and maintain his fifth place in the standings?

In sixth place in the Championship is Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) as the sole MV representative in the top six of the Championship. The Italian rider sits just one point behind Perolari and five behind Oettl in the battle for fourth place in the Championship. De Rosa has scored two podiums in the last four races, including one at Aragon, and appears to become stronger the further into races and will be hoping to use this to his advantage during the two WorldSSP races for the Teruel Round.

One rider who will go into the Teruel Round full of confidence is Danny Webb (WRP Wepol Racing) after securing his best result of the season in Race 1 at MotorLand Aragon with ninth place, before matching that in Race 2. Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing Aragon Round where he retired from both races after showing strong pace in Tissot Superpole to start from fifth place. Another rider who will go into the Teruel Round on a high is Peter Sebestyen (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth) after the Hungarian rider secured his best ever starting spot with ninth place in Tissot Superpole, converting that into a points finish in Race 2 after a battle with Webb, Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) and Federico Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse).

World SSP300

The excitement continues for FIM Supersport 300 World Championship with a second round in as many weekends at MotorLand Aragon, with the circuit playing host to the Pirelli Teruel Round. As with every WorldSSP300 round in 2020, there are two races scheduled throughout with one race on Saturday, after Tissot Superpole, and one on Sunday.

Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) hauled himself to the top of the Championship standings with two victories at the Aragon Round by claiming 50 points and becoming the first repeat winner of 2020. His Race 1 victory was the second-largest margin of victory in WorldSSP300 history; winning by almost seven seconds. Buis heads into the Teruel Round as the rider to beat but will the competition be able to overhaul him after his double success?

Sitting just two points behind Buis is 2018 Champion Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) with Carrasco picking up a second place as her best result during the Aragon Round. The podium finish was her best result at MotorLand Aragon in WorldSSP300 and something Carrasco can use to build on during the next two races at the circuit. Will she be able to go one better and claim victory?

Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) is third after a mixed bag of results at the Aragon Round. The Dutchman retired from Race 1 on the penultimate lap of the 10-lap race but bounced back the next day to secure a third-place finish; meaning Deroue sits just three points behind teammate Buis in the Championship standings with 83 points. Deroue has a strong record at Aragon with his Race 1 retirement the only time he has not finished on the podium in WorldSSP300, putting him in a strong position to potentially move to the top of the standings.

Jerez Race 1 winner Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) is five points behind Deroue in the Championship in fourth place; the eight-point gap between first and fourth showing just how competitive WorldSSP300 is. Orradre picked up a fourth and sixth place at the Aragon Round and will be looking to build on those strong results and return to the rostrum to continue his Championship charge as the 16-year-old continues to impress in WorldSSP300.

Tom Booth-Amos (RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) has lost a bit of ground in the Championship following a fifth place and a retirement at MotorLand Aragon; but remains in fifth place after a strong run of podiums to start the season. The British rider will be looking to get back to scoring consistent podiums to get his title challenge back on track following two retirements in the last three races.

Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) completes the top six in the Championship with the Italian rider securing a second place in Race 2 to drag himself up the Championship standings. A strong result in Race 2 puts Brianti in a good position heading into the Teruel Round as he looks to build on two top-ten finishes at MotorLand Aragon. Will the 17-year-old be able to secure more podium finishes at the Teruel Round?

Ton Kawakami (Yamaha MS Racing) and brother Meikon Kawakami (Team Brasil AD 78) both had strong Tissot Superpole sessions at the Aragon Round, starting the races from second and third and will be looking to build on that. Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) had qualified second before a penalty for a technical infringement meant he did not take part in Race 1 and started from the back of the grid in Race 2; battling his way to a top ten finish in Race 2. Meuffels will be hoping this pace shown in Race 2 continues throughout the Teruel Round to score strong results.