Razgatlioglu was in blistering form from Saturday morning’s third practice session, beating his 2021 pole effort with a 1m32.294s, and in his first run in the 15-minute pole shootout he set the first ever sub-1m32s effort around the Indonesian venue, a 1m31.945s.
That put him six tenths clear of his Yamaha teammate Andrea Locatelli, and on his second and final run Razgatlioglu lowered the bar to a 1m31.371s to seal his fourth pole of the season by a margin of 1.052s.
Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea posted a 1m32.423s at the end of the session to grab second off Locatelli, who ended up third.
Alex Lowes made it two Kawasakis in the top four ahead of champion-elect Alvaro Bautista, who could only manage the fifth-fastest time as he aims to wrap up Ducati’s first title since 2011 this weekend.
However, Bautista’s chances of winning the title as early as the opening race appear slim, as Razgatlioglu only needs to finish inside the top seven to keep his title bid alive until at least Sunday.
Axel Bassani was sixth on his independent Motocorsa Ducati ahead of Xavi Vierge’s Honda and Scott Redding on the best of the BMWs.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi was a disappointing ninth on the second factory Ducati, while Garrett Gerloff completed the top 10 for GRT Yamaha.
Lecuona ruled out with injury
Honda’s Iker Lecuona has been forced to sit out the remainder of the Mandalika weekend following his crash in Friday’s second practice session.
The Spaniard was taken to hospital in nearby Mataram and diagnosed with a fractured vetebra and sacrum, and is now recovering ahead of next weekend’s final round of the season at Phillip Island.
Also sitting out qualifying was Puccetti Kawasaki rider Lucas Mahias following a crash at Turn 16 in third practice.
Results to follow
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – MOTORBIKES – Stories…