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Rea smashes lap record for pole position, Rinaldi secures maiden front row start

Saturday, 5 September 2020 09:42 GMT

    • Reigning Champion Jonathan Rea secures back-to-back pole positions at MotorLand Aragon; all five manufacturers in the top seven

    The Tissot Superpole session for MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship was full of drama as Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) secured pole position for the Teruel Round after beating his own lap record set just a week earlier; the reigning Champion going more than two tenths faster than his nearest rival.

    Rea secured his 26th pole position in WorldSBK and put him third on the all-time pole list in history, equalling Troy Bayliss. Rea was one of the first riders to set his time on the qualifying tyre, putting in a 1’48.767s to take pole position. He will line up alongside Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN), who secured his best ever WorldSBK Superpole performance with second and became the 150th rider to secure a front row start in WorldSBK. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) completes the front row with third place, just 0.005s behind Rinaldi.

    Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) will start fourth as he set a time four tenths away from Rea’s pole setting pace. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) and teammate Leon Haslam secured a second row start for both Honda machines; the first time since Honda had two bikes in the top six since Nurburgring 2013 where Rea qualified fourth and Haslam fifth.

    Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) will line up seventh for Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race, alongside Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK); Lowes declared fit for Saturday action after suffering from a bout of a gastrointestinal virus. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) completes the top ten.

    Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) secured his best Superpole performance of 2020 with 11th, while Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) will start 12th after an error on his first lap on the qualifying tyre, before setting a time on his second attempt. Maximilian Scheib (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) secured a 13th place start after showing some impressive lap times throughout the Tissot Superpole Session.

    The top six following Tissot Superpole, full results here:

    1.) Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’48.767s

    2.) Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) +0.245s

    3.) Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) +0.250s

    4.) Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.406s

    5.) Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) +0.450s

    6.) Leon Haslam (Team HRC) +0.565s

    You can follow more WorldSBK action throughout the Pirelli Teruel Round with the WorldSBK VideoPass!