Gordon Ritchie | April 13, 2018
2018 Aragon WorldSBK and WorldSSP Friday Results—Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had led the second session at Motorland Aragon on Friday and his 1:55.652 lap time was enough to keep him on top in FP3 after the overnight rains arrived halfway through the final session of the opening day.
2018 Aragon WorldSBK and WorldSSP Friday Results
Marco Melandri has been back on the pace in Spain after a lackluster weekend in Thailand.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) proved to be second fastest overall, just 0.039 seconds behind Melandri, with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) 0.197 seconds adrift of the lead.
Ever-competitive Ducati rider Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) ended day one fourth, from the gradually gelling package of Jordi Torres and his MV Agusta Reparto Corse F4. He was the first of the leading riders to improve his best time in FP3 before the rain came back on.
Buriram podium finishers Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK) were sixth and seventh respectively, with the top independent rider, and a genuine contender for race wins, Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team Ducati) eighth at his home round.
Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) held off the attentions of Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), the Italian and British riders ending up ninth and tenth respectively. Camier now runs a Magneti Marelli electronics system on his Fireblade after a successful test at Assen in the aftermath of the Thailand round.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba Racing IT Ducati Junior Team) was 11th in his first competitive on-track ride of 2018: he will only contest the European rounds on his third factory bike. Davide Giugliano (Milwaukee Aprilia), standing in for the recovering Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), was 12th fastest of the 21 riders present in Spain.
Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) was 14th and PJ Jacobsen (TripleM Honda World Superbike Team) 19th.
Randy Krummenacher Heads WorldSSP
Randy Krummenacher and the Yamaha are really gelling in 2018.
Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) displaced eventual second place qualifier Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) from the Friday top spot, right at the end of two sessions of Motorland WorldSSP action – one in the wet and then one in dry conditions.
With fully nine riders not having set times within 107% of the leading competitor in the damp morning session the dry track conditions in the afternoon saw riders make their most meaningful machine set-ups, and set their fastest times.
Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing Yamaha) was third in his third ever WorldSSP weekend, ahead of Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) and Jules Cluzel (NRT Yamaha).
The trend of supremacy from the first rounds continued on in the first European race of the season, with all top five places held by riders on the R6 Yamaha. The top five were also covered by only 0.118 seconds.
The first Triumph in the day one ranking belonged to Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing Triumph) in sixth position, but 0.606 seconds behind Krummenacher.
Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag) placed seventh on a three-cylinder machine of his own, the first of only two MVs in the 2018 Motorland entry.
Kyle Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini Honda) was top Honda runner at his adopted home race in Spain, eighth. Former WorldSBK works rider for Ducati, Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag), was ninth. The top ten was rounded out by Michael Canducci (Team GoEleven Kawasaki), who has recovered from a heavy head knock in a previous round and made a strong comeback to be top Kawasaki rider today.
Anthony West (EAB antwest Racing Kawasaki) was 14th on his privateer bike, with Kenan Sofuoglu stand-in rider Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 15th in a field of 28. Young Aussie Lachlan Epis (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) was 24th, with British riders Stefan Hill (Profile Racing Triumph) and Andrew Irwin (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) 26th and 28th respectively.
