WSBK preview: Aragon, Spain

Following a pair of dramatic encounters in Australia and Thailand, the 2015 Superbike World Championship returns to familiar soil this weekend (April 10-12) at Aragon in Spain as Kawasaki's Jonathan Rea attempts to continue his dominant start to the season which has already yielded three wins.

The MotorLand Aragon facility, a stone’s throw from the town of Alcañiz, made its debut on the calendar in 2011. However, for this year a different track configuration is to be used for the first time, as the riders will take the long double left-hander leading into the start/finish straight. On previous occasions, the tighter hairpin was used at the end of the back straight.

Of the four rounds to be staged in Aragon, race wins have been shared equally among four riders: Italians Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri each took a victory in 2011 and 2012, while in the more recent seasons impressive doubles have gone the ways of Britons Chaz Davies and Tom Sykes.

Championship leader Rea has never raced the ZX-10R at Aragon, but having collected a remarkable 95 per cent of the maximum points available up to this point, the British rider surely has good reason to be confident as he heads out into the Spanish hills.

This could be a crucial weekend for Sykes, the 2013 world champion and last year's runner-up. The Englishman may have picked up his first rostrum of the season in the opening Thai race, but he's already 45pts in arrears of his teammate and has ground to make up.

If Rea’s start to the season has been spectacular, then Leon Haslam’s cannot be described as anything other than immensely strong. He may have beaten his compatriot only once, but Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) remains very much in contention thanks to a trio of second places finishes which ensure he heads to Aragon only 10pts behind Rea.

Furthermore, he now hopes the Moto2 experience of teammate Jordi Torres at Aragon will only add to the challenge from Aprilia this weekend. However, Haslam does admit that the next three rounds at Aragon, Assen and Imola will be key damage limitation exercises before heading to venues on which he expects to be at his strongest.

Spanish fans certainly have a lot to be excited about. Not only is Torres on the charge, but Althea Racing Ducati’s Nico Terol is a former GP winner in Aragon, while David Salom (Team Pedercini), Santiago Barragan (Grillini SBK Team) and Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) have all demonstrated their capabilities of strong showings.

In a further reinforcement to the Spanish Armada, Xavi Fores returns to the grid for the double-head of Aragon and Assen – race meetings separated by the space of just one week. Fores will take up the helm of the second Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike Team bike, becoming the latest substitute for the recovering Davide Giugliano after three-time world champion Troy Bayliss elected to call time on his WSBK career after Thailand. Hailing from Valencia, Fores teams up with 2013 Aragon double winner Chaz Davies who himself is looking to bounce back from a weekend full of troubles last time out.

A rider with momentum is Alex Lowes. The Voltcom Crescent Suzuki man clinched his third WSBK podium finish and the first of 2015 in Thailand’s second race and is now looking to move up from seventh place in the standings.

Elsewhere, Pata Honda World Superbike Team are striving for top three results themselves, with world champion Sylvain Guintoli continuing to carry the famed number one alongside Michael van der Mark ahead of the latter’s home race event at Assen next weekend.

And in a late switch, Italian Ayrton Badovini has been announced as a permanent replacement for Frenchman Sylvain Barrier in the BMW Motorrad Italia team, starting at Aragon.

In world supersport, Glenn Scott (AARK Racing Honda) will be the Aussie representative.