World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea secures 100th win in Aragon season opener
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The first of Jonathan Rea's 100 World Superbike wins came at Misano in 2009
Six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea secured his 100th race win in the series by taking victory in the season opener at Aragon on Saturday.
The Northern Irishman led from start to finish and had almost four seconds to spare by the end of the 18-lap race.
England's Alex Lowes edged out Turkish Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu to make it a one-two for Kawasaki.
Rea becomes the first rider in the history of World Superbikes to rack up a century of race victories.
His tally has been accumulated over a 12-year period, with 85 of his triumphs being achieved on a Kawasaki and 15 accomplished on a Honda.
Rea has a new version of the Kawasaki at his disposal as he aims for a seventh straight title success.
The 34-year-old produced a dominant display in Spain as he pulled away from the pack after earlier clinching pole position for Race One by breaking the lap record in Superpole qualifying.
"To reach 100 victories - that's a career milestone and I'm so, so happy with that. What a way to win the race too - it doesn't normally happen like that," said Rea after his success.
Lowes and Razgatlioglu fought out a thrilling battle for the runner-up spot, with the Englishman just getting the better of his rival by the time they passed the chequered flag.
Razgatlioglu had moved himself into contention for the podium positions after working his way up from 10th on the starting grid.
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Last year's championship runner-up, Scott Redding, saw off the challenge of fellow Ducati-mounted rider Chaz Davies for fourth place, while Tom Sykes completed the top six on a BMW.
Italian Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Honda's Leon Haslam, American Grant Gerloff and Yamaha new boy, World Supersport champion Andrea Locatelli, made up the top 10.
The 10-lap Superpole sprint race will take place on Sunday morning, followed by Race Two in the afternoon.
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