Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea bagged the first WorldSBK sprint race of the season at a wet Motorland Aragon, gambling on an intermediate tyre setup for the 10-lapper.
Both Rea and team-mate Lowes were able to escape at the beginning, and then after a brief scrap with a wet-shod Scott Redding, the Irishman cleared off with Lowes having to contend with Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff in the closing laps.
After some early skirmishes between the Kawasaki riders and a determined but frustrated Redding dropped back to be passed by several other riders and finish eighth.
With Rea the winner and Lowes again second, Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) came through on the same Intermediate options to fight for the final podium place with Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven Ducati), also in an I-I choice.
Gerloff would end up three seconds up on Davies for his first podium of 2021. Davies was again top Ducati rider.
Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad) was the fastest man in the middle and end of the ten laps, having opted for slicks, with an SCX on the rear. He almost caught Davies, but finished fifth.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was sixth, Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) seventh, Redding eighth, and new Yamaha rider in 20201, Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha), ninth. Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) rounded out the top ten.
Tom Sykes pulled into the pits on his works BMW, leaving Jonas Folger as the second-best M1000RR as he came in 13th behind Michael Rinaldi and Andrea Locatelli.
Eugene Laverty ended in 16th.
