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Rachit Thukral

Misano WSBK: Bautista scores Ducati's first 2022 pole

Having set the pace in practice, Bautista also led the timesheets early on in the 15-minute session, setting the early benchmark of 1m33.802s.

Reigning champion Razgatlioglu then set the quickest time of the weekend so far on his factory Yamaha, a 1m33.608s, before it was Rea’s turn to take the top spot with a 1m33.523s.

The Kawasaki rider’s time stood unbeaten until the final three minutes of the session, when Bautista set a new lap record with a 1m33.328s to claim his fifth career pole in the WSBK.

Razgatlioglu managed to find a tenth over his previous lap and then improved further to a 1m33.465s on his last effort, but that still left him a tenth shy of the championship leader, putting him second on the grid for Saturday’s opening contest.

Like Razgatlioglu, Rea also gained a significant chunk of time on his final run but ultimately had to settle for third on the grid, trailing Bautista by just under two tenths of a second.

Rea’s Kawasaki teammate Alex Lowes qualified a strong fourth as he continued his recovery from a difficult 2021 season, while home favourite Michael Ruben Rinaldi ended up fifth on the  second of the factory Ducatis.

Next up was Andrea Locatelli on the factory Yamaha, albeit over six tenths off the pole time, while Xavi Vierge outqualified his Honda teammate Iker Lecuona to take seventh on the grid.

Scott Redding held a strong fourth on the factory BMW with five minutes left in the session, but slipped to ninth in the final order, just ahead of top independent rider Axel Bassani on the Motocorsa Ducati.

GRT Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff ended up 11th, while the fourth row of the grid was completed by Bonovo MGM BMW rider Loris Baz.

Tito Rabat qualified 19th on his return to WSBK with the Puccetti Kawasaki team, where he is replacing the injured Lucas Mahias.

Misano WSBK - Qualifying results:

Cla Rider Bike Time Gap km/h
1 Spain Alvaro Bautista Ducati 1'33.328   163.012
2 Turkey Toprak Razgatlioglu Yamaha 1'33.465 0.137 162.773
3 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki 1'33.518 0.190 162.680
4 United Kingdom Alex Lowes Kawasaki 1'33.669 0.341 162.418
5 Italy Michael Ruben Rinaldi Ducati 1'33.674 0.346 162.410
6 Italy Andrea Locatelli Yamaha 1'33.949 0.621 161.934
7 Spain Xavi Vierge Honda 1'33.991 0.663 161.862
8 Spain Iker Lecuona Honda 1'33.999 0.671 161.848
9 United Kingdom Scott Redding BMW 1'34.039 0.711 161.779
10 Italy Axel Bassani Ducati 1'34.117 0.789 161.645
11 United States Garrett Gerloff Yamaha 1'34.514 1.186 160.966
12 France Loris Baz BMW 1'34.520 1.192 160.956
13 Germany Philipp Oettli Ducati 1'34.530 1.202 160.939
14 Italy Roberto Tamburini Yamaha 1'34.654 1.326 160.728
15 Ireland Eugene Laverty BMW 1'34.723 1.395 160.611
16 Japan Kohta Nozane Yamaha 1'34.939 1.611 160.246
17 France Christophe Ponsson Yamaha 1'34.994 1.666 160.153
18 Malaysia Hafizh Syahrin Honda 1'35.315 1.987 159.613
19 Spain Tito Rabat Kawasaki 1'35.420 2.092 159.438
20 Italy Gabriele Ruiu BMW 1'35.462 2.134 159.368
21 San Marino Luca Bernardi Ducati 1'35.614 2.286 159.114
22 Argentina Leandro Mercado Honda 1'35.746 2.418 158.895
23 Illia Mykhalchyk BMW 1'35.813 2.485 158.784
24 Czech Republic Oliver Konig Kawasaki 1'36.209 2.881 158.130
25 Italy Alessandro Del Bianco Kawasaki 1'36.494 3.166 157.663
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