World Superbikes: Rea secures race one win at Aragon after thrilling battle

Rea won two races at Aragon at the opening round of last year's series

Jonathan Rea took a thrilling win in the first race of the 2022 World Superbike season at Aragon, edging out Alvaro Bautista after a race-long duel.

Kawasaki-mounted Rea and Spaniard Bautista, who was back on a Ducati for the first time since 2019, swapped places at the front throughout.

Rea won the race to the line on the final lap to begin his bid for a seventh world title on a high.

Defending champion Toprak Razgatlioglu was third after starting from pole.

The Turkish rider had set a new lap record for the Spanish circuit in the Superpole qualifying session and was involved in a three-way battle at the front in the early stages of the 18-lapper.

• Can Rea topple Toprak to reclaim world title?

All three riders enjoyed spells in the lead on that frantic opening lap, before the two eventual front-runners managed to pull away from the Pata Yamaha pilot.

The pattern of the race saw Bautista use the seemingly superior horsepower of his machine to make up ground and pass on the straights, with Rea recovering on other parts of the course.

The Northern Irishman was forced into second on the last lap but got past Bautista to win by 0.09 seconds by the chequered flag, with Razgatlioglu a further five seconds back in the final podium spot after dropping off the pace, unable to match the lap times of his rivals.

Aragon has not been a happy hunting ground for Yamaha in World Superbikes, their last win there coming back in 2011, so a third place in this season's curtain-raiser should not prove too much of a disappointment for the champion.

Bautista, back in the colours of Aruba Ducati, after two years in the relative wilderness as part of the Honda team, survived a major scare during the race as hit the kerb but managed to stay on track and maintain his challenge.

'It was like the first race of my career'

For Rea, it was his ninth World Superbike win at Aragon and the 113th of his career as he attempts to reclaim the crown he lost to Razgatlioglu last year after taking the title for the previous six years in a row.

"I really enjoyed that. From the first lap I got track position and passed a lot. There were a lot of areas where my bike was really strong," Rea told Eurosport after Race One.

"I was pumped from this morning. I went out there and loved it. It was like the first race of my career. The bike is just talking to me and I felt I could go. When they passed me I could re-set and make a plan.

"I was just too conservative on sector three on the last lap and that invited Alvaro on the last corner but I thought, 'Whatever happens, I'm going down fighting'.

"I did all I could, made myself as small as I could to get to the line."

Italian Michael Ruben Rinaldi, on the second of the Ducatis, finished fourth, with his compatriot Andrea Locatelli fifth and Spanish rider Iker Lecuona a very creditable sixth on a Honda.

Lecuona's team-mate Xavi Vierge was next in seventh, while Eugene Laverty came home 10th on his BMW, with Scott Redding well back in a disappointing 15th spot. Alex Lowes crashed out.

The Superpole sprint race will take place at 10:00 BST on Sunday, followed by the second feature race of the weekend at 13:00.