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 - Aruba.it Ducati
Alvaro Bautista - Aruba.it Ducati

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

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