Motorcycle Racing

Ducati’s Bautista takes pole in Misano

Ducati's Bautista takes pole in Misano


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:

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