WorldSBK Misano Superpole Results | Alvaro Bautista lands first pole since 2019
Alvaro Bautista scores pole position on Ducati's home soil in Misano ahead of Round 4 for the 2022 WorldSBK Championship; Title rivals complete front row
Alvaro Bautista will start a WorldSBK race from qualified pole position for the first time since 2019 as he ratcheted up the pressure on his title rivals at Misano.
Coming into this weekend’s fourth round of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship armed with a 17 point lead over Jonathan Rea and a 52 point advantage over defending champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, Bautista struck the last remaining box off his Ducati return checklist around the Italian circuit.
Setting his benchmark with just over three minutes of the session remaining, neither Razgatlioglu nor Rea - who complete the front row in second and third - were able to respond to the in-form Spaniard.
It marks the ex-MotoGP rider’s fifth career WorldSBK pole position and his since the penultimate round of the 2019 WorldSBK season in Argentina.
On row two, the so-called ‘second riders’ trio of Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes, Ducati’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi - a double winner in Misano last season - and Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli follow up in fourth, fifth and sixth.
Xavi Vierge got the better of Honda team-mate Iker Lecuona to place seventh in their own private battle, though the latter did well to recover to eighth after a crash early in the session at Turn 4.
Scott Redding completes row three of the fastest of the BMWs, with top privateer Axel Bassani rounding out the top ten.
2022 WorldSBK Championship | Misano, Italy | Superpole Qualifying RESULTS
| 2022 WorldSBK Championship | Misano, Italy | Superpole Qualifying RESULTS | Round 4 / 12 | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | WorldSBK Team | Superbike | Timing |
| 1 | Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Aruba Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 33.328 |
| 2 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha R1 | 1m 33.465 |
| 3 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 33.518 |
| 4 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 33.669 |
| 5 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 33.674 |
| 6 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha R1 | 1m 33.949 |
| 7 | Xavi Vierge | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 33.991 |
| 8 | Iker Lecuona | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 33.999 |
| 9 | Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 34.039 |
| 10 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 34.117 |
| 11 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Yamaha Team | Yamaha R1 | 1m 34.514 |
| 12 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 34.520 |
| 13 | Philipp Oettl | ESP | Team GoEleven | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 34.530 |
| 14 | Roberto Tamburini | ITA | Motoxracing Team | Yamaha R1 | 1m 34.654 |
| 15 | Eugene Laverty | IRL | Bonovo Action BMW | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 34.723 |
| 16 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | GRT Yamaha Team | Yamaha R1 | 1m 34.939 |
| 17 | Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Gil Motor Sport | Yamaha R1 | 1m 34.994 |
| 18 | Hafizh Syahrin | MAL | MIE Racing Team | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 35.315 |
| 19 | Tito Rabat | FRA | Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 35.420 |
| 20 | Gabriele Ruiu | ITA | BMax Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 35.462 |
| 21 | Luca Bernardi | SMR | Barni Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 35.614 |
| 22 | Leandro Mercado | ARG | MIE Racing Team | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 35.746 |
| 23 | Ilya Mikhalchik | UKR | BMW Motorrad | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 35.813 |
| 24 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac VerdNatura | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 36.209 |
| 25 | Alessandro Delbianco | ITA | TPR Pedercini Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 36.494 |
