Race Report

First podium of the season for Team HRC and Bautista at Motorland Aragón

Team HRC has successfully completed round four of the Superbike world championship at Motorland Aragón, scoring its first podium of the 2020 season with Alvaro Bautista, who finished third with his CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP in today’s second Superbike race.

The 10-lap Tissot Superpole race got underway at 11am in warm and sunny conditions. Sixth on the grid, Haslam made a good start and was lying seventh through the initial laps, followed by his team-mate in eighth. Bautista then passed the Brit on lap three, before making up two more positions to move into fifth place on lap seven. Passing Razgatlioglu on the very next lap, the Spaniard held fourth position all the way to the line to score his best race result of the season thus far. Haslam lost a little ground mid-race and was lying tenth on lap seven. The gap that had opened up between him and those immediately ahead proved impossible to close, the Brit therefore concluding the race in tenth position.

Lining up for race 2 later in the afternoon, Bautista benefitted from a second row start thanks to his Superpole race result. Lying fourth through the first corners, the Spaniard was able to move up inside the top three on lap two, battling briefly with van der Mark to defend third through the subsequent laps. Thanks to his consistently strong pace, Alvaro was able to stick within a second of the second-placed rider for almost the entire race and secure the squad’s first podium of the 2020 season, crossing the line a clear third.

Tenth on the grid, Haslam was able to make up two positions already on lap one to place eighth. Fighting as part of a group of three riders, the British rider was lying ninth on lap eleven. Caught up in a four-way battle in the final stages of the 18-lap race, Leon pushed hard and gained two places through the very final corners, closing seventh and scoring valuable championship points in the process.

Team HRC will remain in Spain as round 5 of the WorldSBK championship will take place next weekend (4-6 September) at the very same Motorland Aragón circuit.

team-podium

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Alvaro Bautista ¹⁹

I’m so happy with this podium because it’s a result of all our hard work so far. We’ve been able to take another good step forward this weekend. I was also pleased with my fourth-place result in the Superpole race, as it’s not easy over such a limited number of laps. We can say we’re on our way to achieving our target, which is to win, though there is still work to do of course. I am happy with the way we are developing the bike and we clearly have good potential. Now it’s a case of fine tuning the whole package and continuing to work step by step. I want to thank HRC and Honda and all my mechanics who have worked so hard to resolve various issues that emerged over the weekend. They all really deserve this podium. We are making clear progress, I’m gaining confidence race by race, and I’m looking forward to seeing if we can take another step forward next weekend here at the same track.

Team HRC

Leon Haslam ⁹¹

It’s been a little frustrating because in testing here two weeks ago, things were going well and we were consistent in our performance. But when we started the work this weekend, we had some problems and race 1 and the sprint race were both difficult for me. Race 2 on the other hand was very positive, it was the first time I was able to really battle with other riders and fight until the final corner, beating those in my group on the last lap to close seventh. So there were many positives in the last race, and Bautista finishing on the podium is another big positive of course. When we’re both struggling it’s not good for motivation but when you see your team-mate make the podium you realise where the bike can be. Hopefully we can take what we’ve learned and take the next step next weekend.

Team HRC

30 Aug 2020

Aragon Round

MotorLand Aragón, Spain

WorldSBK 2020, Round 4

Sunday 30 Aug 2020, 12:35 UTC

#	Rider	Num	Nationality Nat.	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Jonathan Rea	1	GBR	25	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	Kawasaki	33'18.756
2	Chaz Davies	7	GBR	20	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	+1.280
3	Alvaro Bautista	19	SPA	16	Team HRC	Honda	+3.599
4	Scott Redding	45	GBR	13	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	+5.445
5	Michael Rinaldi	21	ITA	11	Team GoEleven	Ducati	+6.687
6	Michael van der Mark	60	NDL	10	Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	Yamaha	+9.561
7	Leon Haslam	91	GBR	9	Team HRC	Honda	+20.911
8	Toprak Razgatlioglu	54	TUR	8	Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	Yamaha	+21.248
9	Alex Lowes	22	GBR	7	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	Kawasaki	+21.399
10	Garrett Gerloff	31	USA	6	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team	Yamaha	+21.717
11	Xavi Fores	12	SPA	5	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing	Kawasaki	+21.809
12	Tom Sykes	66	GBR	4	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	+22.012
13	Federico Caricasulo	64	ITA	3	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team	Yamaha	+25.244
14	Eugene Laverty	50	GBR	2	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	+30.088
15	Max Scheib	77	CHI	1	Orelac Racing VerdNatura	Kawasaki	+36.546
16	Sylvain Barrier	20	FRA	0	Brixx Performance	Ducati	+49.074
17	Christophe Ponsson	23	FRA	0	Nuova M2 Racing	Aprilia	+55.511
18	Takumi Takahashi	13	JPN	0	MIE Racing Althea Honda Team	Honda	+1'00.754
19	Lorenzo Gabellini	63	ITA	0	MIE Racing Althea Honda Team	Honda	+1'35.650
20	Román Ramos	40	SPA	0	Outdo Kawasaki TPR	Kawasaki	+1 Lap
21	Marco Melandri	33	ITA	0	BARNI Racing	Ducati	+8 Laps
22	Loris Baz	76	FRA	0	Ten Kate Racing Yamaha	Yamaha	+14 Laps

Sunday 30 Aug 2020, 09:20 UTC

#	Rider	Num	Nationality Nat.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Jonathan Rea	1	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	Kawasaki	18'22.815
2	Scott Redding	45	GBR	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	+2.635
3	Michael van der Mark	60	NDL	Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	Yamaha	+4.041
4	Alvaro Bautista	19	SPA	Team HRC	Honda	+5.560
5	Chaz Davies	7	GBR	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	+5.976
6	Alex Lowes	22	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	Kawasaki	+6.232
7	Toprak Razgatlioglu	54	TUR	Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	Yamaha	+7.094
8	Michael Rinaldi	21	ITA	Team GoEleven	Ducati	+7.589
9	Loris Baz	76	FRA	Ten Kate Racing Yamaha	Yamaha	+7.909
10	Leon Haslam	91	GBR	Team HRC	Honda	+11.399
11	Federico Caricasulo	64	ITA	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team	Yamaha	+13.204
12	Xavi Fores	12	SPA	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing	Kawasaki	+14.430
13	Garrett Gerloff	31	USA	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team	Yamaha	+16.096
14	Max Scheib	77	CHI	Orelac Racing VerdNatura	Kawasaki	+16.266
15	Tom Sykes	66	GBR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	+17.958
16	Eugene Laverty	50	GBR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	+23.574
17	Marco Melandri	33	ITA	BARNI Racing	Ducati	+24.169
18	Sylvain Barrier	20	FRA	Brixx Performance	Ducati	+26.146
19	Román Ramos	40	SPA	Outdo Kawasaki TPR	Kawasaki	+26.790
20	Takumi Takahashi	13	JPN	MIE Racing Althea Honda Team	Honda	+39.799
21	Lorenzo Gabellini	63	ITA	MIE Racing Althea Honda Team	Honda	+1:08.958
22	Christophe Ponsson	23	FRA	Nuova M2 Racing	Aprilia	+59.152 NC
23	Leandro Mercado	36	ARG	Motocorsa Racing	Ducati	+10 Laps

Saturday 29 Aug 2020, 12:36 UTC

#	Rider	Num	Nationality Nat.	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.	Time/Gap
1	Scott Redding	45	GBR	25	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	33'23.739
2	Chaz Davies	7	GBR	20	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati	+0.304
3	Jonathan Rea	1	GBR	16	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	Kawasaki	+2.123
4	Michael Rinaldi	21	ITA	13	Team GoEleven	Ducati	+7.453
5	Michael van der Mark	60	NDL	11	Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	Yamaha	+8.365
6	Toprak Razgatlioglu	54	TUR	10	Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	Yamaha	+18.851
7	Loris Baz	76	FRA	9	Ten Kate Racing Yamaha	Yamaha	+20.226
8	Xavi Fores	12	SPA	8	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing	Kawasaki	+26.971
9	Federico Caricasulo	64	ITA	7	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team	Yamaha	+27.054
10	Leon Haslam	91	GBR	6	Team HRC	Honda	+29.283
11	Leandro Mercado	36	ARG	5	Motocorsa Racing	Ducati	+30.270
12	Sylvain Barrier	20	FRA	4	Brixx Performance	Ducati	+40.070
13	Román Ramos	40	SPA	3	Outdo Kawasaki TPR	Kawasaki	+42.267
14	Marco Melandri	33	ITA	2	BARNI Racing	Ducati	+54.075
15	Takumi Takahashi	13	JPN	1	MIE Racing Althea Honda Team	Honda	+57.737
16	Eugene Laverty	50	GBR	0	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	+59.805
17	Lorenzo Gabellini	63	ITA	0	MIE Racing Althea Honda Team	Honda	+1'22.202
NC	Max Scheib	77	CHI	0	Orelac Racing VerdNatura	Kawasaki	DNF
NC	Alvaro Bautista	19	SPA	0	Team HRC	Honda	DNF
NC	Garrett Gerloff	31	USA	0	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team	Yamaha	DNF
NC	Alex Lowes	22	GBR	0	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	Kawasaki	DNF
NC	Tom Sykes	66	GBR	0	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW	DNF
NC	Christophe Ponsson	23	FRA	0	Nuova M2 Racing	Aprilia	DNF

Rider Standings

Sunday, 30 Aug 2020 - Open world standings grid

#	Rider	Num	Nationality Nat.	Points Pts.	Team	Constructor Constr.
1	Scott REDDING	45	GBR	149	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati
2	Jonathan REA	1	GBR	141	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	Kawasaki
3	Chaz DAVIES	7	GBR	110	Aruba.it Racing – Ducati	Ducati
4	Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU	54	TUR	103	Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	Yamaha
5	Michael VAN DER MARK	60	NDL	88	Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	Yamaha
6	Alex LOWES	22	GBR	83	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	Kawasaki
7	Michael RINALDI	21	ITA	74	Team GoEleven	Ducati
8	Alvaro BAUTISTA	19	SPA	71	Team HRC	Honda
9	Loris BAZ	76	FRA	47	Ten Kate Racing Yamaha	Yamaha
10	Leon HASLAM	91	GBR	47	Team HRC	Honda
11	Tom SYKES	66	GBR	39	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW
12	Xavi FORES	12	SPA	27	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing	Kawasaki
13	Garrett GERLOFF	31	USA	26	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team	Yamaha
14	Federico CARICASULO	64	ITA	22	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team	Yamaha
15	Marco MELANDRI	33	ITA	19	BARNI Racing	Ducati
16	Eugene LAVERTY	50	GBR	18	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	BMW
17	Sandro CORTESE	11	GER	14	Outdo Kawasaki TPR	Kawasaki
18	Leandro MERCADO	36	ARG	12	Motocorsa Racing	Ducati
19	Max SCHEIB	77	CHI	11	Orelac Racing VerdNatura	Kawasaki
20	Sylvain BARRIER	20	FRA	5	Brixx Performance	Ducati
21	Christophe PONSSON	23	FRA	4	Nuova M2 Racing	Aprilia
22	Román RAMOS	40	SPA	3	Outdo Kawasaki TPR	Kawasaki
23	Takumi TAKAHASHI	13	JPN	1	MIE Racing Althea Honda Team	Honda