WSBK Superbike Misano Superpole: 1st place and new record for Rea

The Kawasaki rider maintains his invincibility in Superpole this season, obtaining the best time coupled with a new record.

The morning ended in Misano with the Superbike qualifying session. A Superpole in which Michael Ruben Rinaldi was the big favorite, the Italian who is playing this weekend just a stone's throw from his hometown, Rimini, and who had shown himself to be intractable during FP2 and FP3.

However, it was the championship leader Jonathan Rea, discreet until now this weekend on the Adriatic coast, who initially took the best time, ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Lucas Mahias. The Kawasaki rider then hit the nail on the head by setting a new circuit record – it's quite simple, the Northern Irishman has set a new record during each of the Superpoles contested so far this season – in 1'33.416 .

 

 

A reference which initially ensured him a lead of almost half a second over his opponents, before the latter started to charge. Toprak Razgatlioglu is the one who managed to get closest to the Northern Irishman, just a tenth, without however managing to dethrone him.

 

Summary of the results of the 2021 edition:

WSBK Superbike Misano	June 2019	June 2021
FP1	1'36.029 Jonathan Rea	1'34.848 Toprak Razgatlioglu
FP2	1'36.021 Michael van der Mark	1'34.334 Michael Ruben Rinaldi
FP3	1'46.484 Loris Baz	1'34.018 Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Super poles	1'34.596 Jonathan Rea	1'33.416 Jonathan Rea
Race 1	Rea, Sykes, Bautista
Warm Up	1'35.814 Jonathan Rea
Superpole race	Bautista, Lowes, Haslam
Race 2	Rea, Razgatlioglu, Haslam
All time lap record	1'34.596 Jonathan Rea	1'33.416 Jonathan Rea

 

Rinaldi beaten by Redding

It was long thought that Rinaldi would be a viable contender for the Superpole, but ultimately it was his teammate Scott Redding who stole the show and completed the front row of the grid. The Italian, for his part, had to settle for fourth place, ahead of Tom Sykes and Alex Lowes.

Great performance behind Lucas Mahias, who leads the third row, ahead of rookie Axel Bassani, also author of a major performance, and Álvaro Bautista. The top 10 is completed by Chaz Davies. Christophe Ponsson will start from 18th place in Race 1.

Laverty absent

Two drivers did not record a single time during this Superpole: Garrett Gerloff and Eugene Laverty. The first mentioned was the victim of an inconsequential fall during the session in turn 1, while the second had to withdraw following his big accident during FP3. The Northern Irishman continues to undergo a battery of tests to judge his physical condition and his ability to take part in Race 1.

 

 

With the grid hierarchy now established, the Superbike riders now meet at 14 p.m. for the first of two races scheduled for this weekend in Italy, which are sure to be spectacular with multiple contenders for victory .

 

Superbike – Misano – Superpole results:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com