Chaz Davies got his World Superbike weekend at Motorland Aragon off to the best possible start as he finished the first free practice session ahead of the Hondas of Nicky Hayden and Michael Van Der Mark.
As good as Davies’ 1’51.895 was, it was the performance of the Hondas around the 5.344 km circuit that will have perhaps surprised.
Hayden and Van Der Mark were putting in plenty of work throughout the session, though the Dutchman took a little more time to find his rhythm in the early stages.
Hayden imposed himself on the top six early and never looked back, with Van Der Mark joining him after 25 minutes – the Rotterdammer posting a fine 1’53.3 to sit fifth at the time.
The session had begun with current champion and 2016 championship leader Jonathan Rea on top, as he battled with team-mate Tom Sykes and Davies for early supremacy.
As it was, Sykes moved into prime position in the opening ten minutes and would hold that for over half the session. The mini-tussle between the trio of Kawasaki and Ducati riders was fascinating as the top three places changed hands over a period of laps and it looked as if Kawasaki would start the weekend off best.
However, with five minutes remaining in the session all the riders who had returned to the pits for tweaks halfway were on their outlaps and it was Davies who soon blasted to top spot with a 1’52.003, with Van Der Mark just .426s back.
Davies solidified his position on the next lap, moving into the 1’51s but it was former MotoGP star Nicky Hayden who ran him closest in the end as the American posted his best – a 1’52.208 – to bump his team-mate down to third.
Jonathan Rea recovered some places towards the end of the fact-finding mission, finishing fourth on the timesheets ahead of Alex Lowes and his Kawasaki team-mate Sykes.
Pata Yamaha rider Sylvain Guintoli was seventh as Xavi Fores, Leon Camier and the Althea BMW of Jordi Torres rounded out the top ten.
The session held mixed emotions for Shaun Muir’s Milwaukee BMW outfit as Karel Abraham was able to hold his own during the practice, eventually finishing 13th but Josh Brookes – although only four places down in 17th – had a morning to forget, with almost 80% of his time spent in pit-lane.
