The new era of Supersport has begun! The Motorland Aragon was the scene of the first appointment of the season, which reserved many innovations, including the presence of the Ducatis on the starting grid. What hasn’t changed, however, has been the great dominance of the Yamahas, who have mastered both races on the Spanish track with two different riders.
The victories in the opening round of 2022 were shared by Lorenzo Baldassarri and Dominique Aegerter, who are heading towards the second round, in Assen, with equal points at the top of the standings. The rookie started his Supersport adventure with a stratospheric Superpole on Saturday morning and a thrilling victory in Race 1. In the duel with the reigning world champion, on the last lap he lost control of his R6, practically finishing at ground but managing to raise it in a “Marc Marquez-style” maneuver to then go on to win his first race, with the Swiss second just over two tenths of a second.
The roles were reversed in Race 2, where Aegerter himself prevailed, who managed to pass under the checkered flag with only 30 thousandths of an advantage over the Evan Bros. team driver. his Yamaha ahead of those of the Swiss at the end of the long straight, but a too deep braking opened a way for the reigning champion, who managed to conquer his first success of the season. The two are thus on equal points at the top of the standings, both at 45 thanks to the identical result in the two races.
Baldassarri and Aegerter played a weekend apart, leaving the others behind to fight and putting a large margin between them and their pursuers. The “first of the others” has always been Can Oncu, author of a huge step forward in 2022 and always in pursuit of the two leaders in the two heats. If in Race 1 he managed to get on the third step of the podium easily, but only a little more than a second behind, he had to park his Kawasaki on the side of the track in the last lap of Race 2. The Turk paid for a technical problem when he was firmly in third position, paving the way for Glenn van Straalen.
It all seemed easy for the Dutch EAB Racing Team, ready to take his first podium in the 600 class. But he hadn’t reckoned with Nicolò Bulega. The Emilian rider mocked him right in the final, going to conquer the third position and taking the Ducati to the third step of the podium in the debut round. The Aruba driver was also on his Supersport debut and was able to take advantage of Oncu’s retirement to take home a third position that bodes well.
With the podium in Race 2, Bulega leaves Aragon chasing Aegerter and Baldassarri, leading with 45 points. The Ducati rider remains at 27, thanks to the fifth place obtained in the first heat of the weekend. The general classification also sees Glenn van Straalen in fourth position with the two fourth places. Yamaha is still the dominant manufacturer of the championship, with three bikes in the top four, and the only one to break the hegemony is Bulega, third with Ducati.
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