Jonathan Rea scored a first and a second in round three of the Superbike World Championship at Aragon, Spain over the weekend to establish a 12-point lead in the series.

Race one was red-flagged after three laps following a three-bike collision, but Rea again led the restart from Alex Lowes.

He later came under pressure from Xavi Fores who made a move on the Northern Irishman with nine laps to go, taking the lead in front of his home fans.

Rea found his moment a couple of laps later, racing away from the Spaniard and taking his second win of the season.

’It was a good race, I want to thank my team for giving me a good bike. After Friday morning’s opening free practice I was throwing the toys out the pram, but step by step we got it right.’

With three riders eventually competing for the second race victory on Sunday, Rea continued to pressurise eventual winner Chaz Davies (Ducati) on the final lap, after Marco Melandri had suddenly dropped back to a distant third.

Rea ran wide into the chicane at turn 12 and lost his chance to attack Davies on the final corner. He was 1.184 seconds back at the flag, for his fourth podium finish of the 2018 season.

’I threw everything into the last lap but I overcooked it into turn 12. But it was fun,’ he added.

Round four is at Assen, Holland this weekend.