Alvaro Bautista and Ducati conquer the fourth Superpole of the season. It has been since October 2019, on the San Juan track in Argentina, that the Spaniard has not finished a qualification in the lead, the last vestige of his previous adventure with Ducati. This is the fifth Superpole of his career for Alvaro Bautista, who beats the lap record at the Misano circuit, which had belonged to Jonathan Rea since last season.
The Spaniard did a lap in 1'33"328, less than 1'33"461 which, a year ago, earned Jonathan Rea the Superpole. Ducati dethrones the Kawasaki which, for nine seasons at Misano, had been the loud voice of qualifying. It's a magnificent start for the Spanish driver on the Rossa circuit. In the front row he will find Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea at his side: the usual challenge of the three previous rounds.
The Northern Irishman had to settle for third place, also preceded by Toprak Razgatlioglu, but the three are separated by less than two tenths of a second and exactly repeat the result of yesterday's free practice.
Behind the hitherto unbeatable trio, who thus form the first row of the next two races, we find Alex Lowes who is ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi by only five thousandths of a second. The Italian and his Ducati will therefore start from the second row, alongside Andrea Locatelli, qualified in sixth place, more than six tenths of a second behind the leader.
The third row will be made up of the two Honda flag bearers with Xavi Virgo preceding Iker Lecuona. At their side is Scott Redding who seems more and more comfortable on the M 1000 RR, but we are waiting to see what this will do in the race.
Axel Bassani will open the fourth line, alongside Garrett Gerloff and Loris Baz from whom it was legitimate to expect something more. Philipp Oettl was also disappointed by qualifying in thirteenth place, but was hoping for a much better result after third place in the final free practice session this morning.
The start of the first race will be at 14 p.m., and there will be 21 laps to complete. A year ago, Michael Rinaldi, with Ducati, won the first round.
WSBK Misano: Superpole ranking
Credit Ranking & photos: World SBK
