| The Aragon test ends with Bautista third and Rinaldi seventh. Bulega finishes fourth in WorldSSP |
The last winter tests of 2022 ended today at the Motorland Circuit of Aragon (Spain), which from Friday will host the first round of the new WorldSBK season.
As yesterday, the day started with extremely low temperatures, but track conditions improved significantly during the afternoon.
The two riders of the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team worked on the final details ahead of the first official free practice of the Pirelli Aragon Round scheduled for Friday at 10.30 am.
In today's three sessions, Alvaro Bautista completed 48 laps, setting in FP3 his best time of 1'49.094 to eventually finish third, three tenths behind Rea (Kawasaki) and just 26 thousandths of a second behind Razgatlioglu (Yamaha).
For Michael Rinaldi 44 laps completed and the seventh position in the combined standings thanks to a time of 1'49.863 set in the early afternoon session.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #19)
"It was a positive test, even though the low temperature this morning didn't allow us to get the most out of every session. Anyway, we did a good job: today we focused on adjusting the set-up with the goal of improving the race pace with the harder tire and the results were positive. We collected a lot of data to work on and this is very important. I'm really happy because the feeling is very good".
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati #21)
"Without a doubt, I expected more from these tests, but even in the difficult times, we can still find data that can help us. We've understood what we're missing to be competitive and I hope that in these two days, after carefully analyzing the data, we'll be able to find a solution that allows us to improve. In any case, we arrive at the start of the season with a great desire to do well".
Due to the low temperature, Nicolò Bulega and the Aruba.it Racing WSSP team only took to the track in the afternoon but had to deal with a small issue that stopped the Italian rider after 8 laps. In the last session, however, Bulega lapped steadily (18 laps completed) finishing in fourth place (1'53.621) but only 240 thousandths of a second behind the best time of Cluzel (Yamaha).
Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP #11)
"I'm happy because during all the winter tests we did a really good job. The feeling with the bike is very positive even if sometimes we struggle to find the right setup on a new machine that lacks experience. Anyway, we are always able to find positive solutions and that gives us great confidence. We are ready to start the season".
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