Round 2 of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship got underway in near perfect conditions at MotorLand Aragon a short time ago with Jonathan Rea (PATA Honda World Superbike Team) having the honour of topping the first European session of the season, albeit over two seconds slower than the circuit best lap from last year.

Rea left it until his final lap to edge out Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) who was 2nd, and reigning champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) who moved up to 3rd in the closing stages. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team), championship leader Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team) and last year’s double winner Chaz Davies (Ducati Superbike Team) completed the top 6.

In the EVO catergory Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing) was fastest, claiming an impressive 10th position overall ahead of Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki) who impressed in 13th.

Claudio Corti (MV Agusta RC – Yakhnich Motorsport) rode his upgraded machine to 17th position as the Team Hero EBR duo continued with their development taking 25th and 27th.

Today’s first free practice session saw welcome returns to the track for a number of riders injured in Australia, although Sylvain Barrier was not in action following his subsequent road traffic accident. His BMW Motorrad Italia machine was ridden by Leon Camier who powered the EVO spec machine to a credible 16th position after several months of not riding.

The second free practice of the day is scheduled to start at 1530 local time.