Aruba Ducati took all the plaudits in the first World Superbike free practice session at Aragon with Chaz Davies and Davide Giuglinao replacement Xavi Fores occupying the top two positions on the timesheets.
Davies and Fores began the session in Spain brightly, with both riders well on top of the pace but as the session wore on Kawasaki team-mates Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea were posting impressive times of their own.
Rea opted to ease himself into the session with some time spent in the pits but Sykes was eager to banish the slow start he has had to the season, and did so with an early 1’52.927.
He bested that later in the session with a 1’52.768 but with little time remaining Davies eked every last piece of speed out of his Panigale and with a 1’52.009 blew Sykes and the rest of the field away.
Fores, who had just completed a two-day test with Davies and the Ducati crew at Misano, was undoubtedly the most impressive rider of the first practice session as he looked at ease around the 5.344km circuit.
The Spaniard, buoyed on by familiar surroundings, was able to secure a 1’52.365 - just .346 off his team-mate - at a circuit he knows well.
Alex Lowes picked up where he left off in Thailand, finishing third on the timesheets with a 1’52.638 and with just 11 laps completed – the lowest total of the top ten – his speed should give plenty of confidence to the Crescent Suzuki garage even though they are debuting Magneti Marelli electronics at this round. Lowes’ team-mate Randy De Puniet was a disappointing 15th, however.
Just behind Jonathan Rea’s fifth placed effort of 1’52.792 was another impressive Ducati performance, this time from Nico Terol who secured sixth for Althea Racing with a respectable 1’52.940.
The Pata Honda team begin the session in sprightly form, sitting in the top four for a little while but as the pace increased there was little answer from Sylvain Guintoli and Michael Van Der Mark, posting 1’53.015 and 1’53.322, respectively.
Surprinsingly, Leon Haslam’s Aprilia Red Devils team had little answer to the faster men in the first session but the Smalley man said as much in his exclusive interview in Bikesport News, out now.
The Derbyshire rider and his team-mate Jordi Torres were a far cry from anything seen from them so far this season and perhaps Haslam’s words – he had indicated that the Aprilia could struggle on the unfavourable Aragon track – were correct, though it is early days just yet.
Torres and Haslam rounded off the top ten with the Spaniard posting a 1’53.866 and the Brit a 1’53.900.
There was not much between the top ten after the first session but Aprilia will clearly hope for better this season after their impressive start to the campaign.
On a final note for the Brits, Leon Camier’s troubled time with the MV Agusta shows few signs of letting up as his best effort was a 1’55.992 from just five completed laps in the 45-minute session.
