There was a fourth place and a seventh place finish for the two Island residents competing in the Spanish MotoGP.
Cal Crutchlow finished outside of the podium places in fourth behind Yamaha team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.
Northern Ireland rider Rea, deputising for injured world champion Casey Stoner, was in a fine seventh place at Aragon.
Dani Pedrosa kept his faint hopes of a first MotoGP championship alive with a dominant win from pole-sitter Jorge Lorenzo.