A masterclass from Alvaro Bautista ensures Aragon wins the WorldSBK Superpole

Alvaro Bautista outperformed his championship rivals with two fantastic block passes in Aragon to take his third World Superbikes victory this season.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Nicolo Bulega fought hard all the way, but the 39-year-old outpaced the duo in the closing laps to contribute to his victories.

Bulega catapulted from the starting line from pole to Turn 1, while his fellow Ducati riders finished second, third and fourth.

The V4 Ducatis of Iannone, Bautista and Petrucci crossed the line with Razgatlıoğlu on the BMW behind in fifth place.

Towards the end of lap 1, Razgatlıoğlu powered his way through Petrucci and moved up to fourth before making a bold move on Bautista on lap 2.

The Turkish rider had further momentum to overtake Iannone to take second place, with Ducati factory rider Bautista also surprising his V4 rival.

On lap 3, Alex Lowes lost the throttle on his Kawasaki and crashed from fourth, promoting Iannone and Petrucci.

Championship heroes Razgatlıoğlu and Bulega went back and forth in the final corner, but the BMW rider showed a fast pace that was almost a second faster than his main rival.

Events repeated themselves on lap 4, but Razgatlıoğlu made a move and stuck it on the inside of the Ducati in Turn 1. The Arbua.it Ducati duo of Bulega and Bautista were unwilling to give up without a fight.

Bulega bombed the Turkish rider halfway through Turn 1, while the leading trio had an advantage over the rest at the halfway point.

3.1 seconds separated Bautista in third from Iannone in fourth, with the gap widening at the turn and once again making it seem impossible to predict who will finish where.

Razgatlıoğlu made a late lunge and successfully completed a block pass before the long straight, allowing Bautista back into it, but with two laps to go the Turkish rider stretched a small gap before the long straight.

Bautista repeated Razgatlıoğlu’s move on Bulega before the straight to take second, with the veteran looking to take race victory on the final lap.

Bautista produced a block pass on Razgatlıoğlu before the straight to take the race victory from his old rival and championship teammate.

The 39-year-old took his third race win of the season in front of his home fans, with Razgatlıoğlu and Bulega settling for second and third places.

Iannone held off the in-form Gerloff to finish fourth, while Petrucci finished his Superpole race in sixth.

BMW’s Michael van der Mark finished eighth and was the filling in a Honda sandwich, with Iker Lecuona leading the way in seventh, while Xavi Vierge finished ninth.

Scott Redding completed the top ten, but does not earn any points due to the Superpole format. The Yamaha trio of Andrea Locatelli, Jonathan Rea and Remy Gardner finished 11th, 12th and 13th respectively.

Last year’s race one winner Michael Ruben Rinaldi came home in 14th, with Axel Bassani in 15th as the leading Kawasaki rider.