Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) smashed the existing lap record on his way to pole position at Donington Park for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as he lapped in the 1’24s bracket. His rivals were unable to get within half-a-second of ‘El Turco’ as the Race 1 grid for the Prosecco DOC UK Round, with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) the closest rider to the #54 but 0.573s back.

THE FIRST RUNS: Razgatlioglu puts himself out of touch…

There was a rush to get on track as the pit lane opened for the 15-minute session as dark clouds loomed over Donington Park, eager to get a dry lap in just in case rain fell. Razgatlioglu immediately obliterated the lap record as he set a barely believable 1’24.892s – 1.2 seconds quicker than the previous pole lap record from 2023, and a full second faster than Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) went in FP3 when he broke the all-time lap record. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) slotted into second with Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) third and Gardner fourth.

BULEGA IN A BMW SANDWICH: P2 for the Italian, Razgatlioglu on pole

Any potential rain held off for the second run and Razgatlioglu went even quicker, setting a 1’24.629s to break the lap record again with no one able to get within half-a-second of the #54 as he claimed his 15^th WorldSBK pole and third of the season, while his Misano-Donington poles mean it’s back-to-back poles for BMW for the first time. His closest rival was Bulega with the #11 0.573s back but well under the previous lap record, while Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) continued his strong showing with third; his first top-three Superpole result since Magny-Cours 2022.

SAM LOWES FOURTH DESPITE CRASH: good result for the #14, three BMWs in the top six

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) will lead away the second row despite a crash at Turn 8 with just a few minutes remaining, with the #14 coming off his Panigale V4 R at Coppice. He had initially been demoted to fifth by Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), but the #9 will start from 13^th after losing his lap time due to yellow flags. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) claimed fifth in Superpole with Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) making it three BMW riders in the top six.

CAN YAMAHA RIDERS MAKE GAINS? Locatelli P7, Rea P8, Gardner P10

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) claimed seventh, 1.001s off Razgatlioglu’s pace, with teammate Jonathan Rea 0.008s back from ‘Loka’ in eighth. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had set a time good enough for the top three but lost it due to yellow flags when he set his best time, so the #22 will be ninth with Gardner classified in tenth.

WORK TO DO FOR BAUTISTA: outside the top 10, 13 riders under previous record

Reigning Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) missed out on a top ten spot, with the #1 only able to manage 11^th at the circuit he won twice at last year. Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) claimed 12^th with Petrucci 13^th after losing his lap time. ‘Petrux’ was the final rider who went under the previous pole record – a 1’26.041s – to show how rapid the times were in the Superpole session.

The top six from WorldSBK Superpole, full results here:

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’24.629s

2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +0.573s

3. Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) +0.777s

4. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.863s

5. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.899s

6. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.992s

Watch WorldSBK Race 1 from 14:00 Local Time (UTC+1) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!