Sportbike Aragon Race 1: first victory for David Salvador, Matteo Vannucci 5th

Race 1 of the Sportbike World Championship at Aragon crowns David Salvador for the first time, in a race interrupted by a red flag.

A photo finish was needed to determine the sixth different winner (!) in seven races held so far in the 2026 Sportbike World Championship. In a thrilling 5-lap sprint race following a red flag caused by Taiyo Aksu’s crash, David Salvador secured his first win of the season in Race 1 at Motorland Aragon, leading a group of seven riders covered by 0.834 under the checkered flag. The ProDina Kawasaki XCI rider returned to victory for the first time since last September in the now-defunct WorldSSP300, strengthening his lead in the championship.

In this Race 1, David Salvador had to contend with a large pack of rivals—and with... the red flag. On lap five of the first part of the race, Taiyo Aksu’s heavy fall exiting Turn 3 brought the contest to a halt. At the subsequent restart, with only 5 laps to run, the Madrid-born rider responded blow-for-blow to the attacks from teammate Antonio Torres and Matteo Vannucci. In the now customary revolving cast of protagonists, it was Xavi Artigas who troubled him on the final lap with a textbook late charge, but Salvador managed to prevail by a whisker: 46 thousandths!

As seen in previous outings, the Kawasaki Ninja 636 remains the bike to beat in WorldSPB. David Salvador crossed the line ahead of Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki), while Antonio Torres, on the second ProDina Kawasaki XCI, was pipped by revelation Fenton Seabright (best result of the season with PHR Performance Triumph) for the third step of the podium, slipping to 22 points behind Salvador in the championship. Not to forget Loris Veneman, seventh with the other MTM Kawasaki to round out the leading group.

The rivals are left with crumbs and little more. With Fenton Seabright breaking Kawasaki’s podium hegemony, our Matteo Vannucci (REVO-M2 Aprilia) finished fifth ahead of Carter Thompson, seventh with the BrCorse Team Yamaha R7. Having found himself leading at times, the 2021 Italian Supersport 300 Champion had to roll off the throttle at the crucial moment to avoid contact with Seabright, compromising the final sprint. While Alessio Di Persio took a solid ninth, inside the points also featured Elia Bartolini (12th), Mirko Gennai (13th), and Marco Gaggi (15th). A missed opportunity for Bruno Ieraci, lightning-quick in practice, who was out immediately at the first start after a gritty launch. Tomorrow brings Race 2, scheduled for 13:00.