Submitted by Jared Earle on
World Superbike qualifying was twenty five minutes to set a fast lap on a track the series has never raced at and has had only one dry session this weekend. As this morning's weather dried up, slick tyres were fitted in anticipation of dry qualifying.
After one fast lap, Loris Baz set a 1'43.450 only to have Michael Ruben Rinaldi to steal the top spot with a 1'43.288. A lap later, Rinaldi knocked half a second off with a 1'42.744, joined by Toprak Razgatlioglu and Loris Baz continuing the Yamaha's form from Friday.
With fifteen minutes left, riders started to make their way back to their garages for a tea break and a new tyre, some abandoning quick laps. Jonas Folger, Alex Lowes and Tom Sykes had not set a lap time at the halfway mark while Scott Redding and Alvaro Bautista had still not headed back for their fancy rubber.
Garrett Gerloff and Jonathan Rea snuck out for a pre-qualifying tyre lap and Gerloff moved the goalposts with a 1'42.663, holding provisional pole position for over a minute until Michael Ruben Rinaldi posted a 1'42.525 as the garages filled with activity. With seven minutes remaining, only Jonas Folger had yet to set a lap time.
Leon Haslam was the first rider with the stickier rubber and he set a 1'42.421 as the target time for anyone wanting to within a chance of pole position. Scott Redding matched Haslam in the first half of the lap, but made up pace in the second half to set a 1'42.421 only to be beaten seconds later by a much quicker Alvaro Bautista's 1'41.757.
After a disappointing couple of weekends at Aragon, Toprak Razgatlioglu regained his crown with a 1'41.713, but Jonathan Rea spent his qualifying grip to buy a 1'41.619 as the flag came out.
Jonathan Rea headed the front row, alongside Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista. Tom Sykes was fourth quickest, with Michael van der Mark and Michael Ruben Rinaldi joining him on the second row, ahead of Scott Redding Alex Lowes and Loris Baz. Leon Haslam's opening SC0 lap was good enough for tenth pace while Jonas Folger's lack of qualifying lap left him adrift in twenty first place.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap | Speed |
1 | 1 | J. REA | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'41.619 | 319,5 | |
2 | 54 | T. RAZGATLIOGLU | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'41.713 | 0.094 | 309,5 |
3 | 19 | A. BAUTISTA | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1'41.757 | 0.138 | 321,4 |
4 | 66 | T. SYKES | BMW S1000 RR | 1'41.823 | 0.204 | 314,0 |
5 | 60 | M. VAN DER MARK | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'41.973 | 0.354 | 313,0 |
6 | 21 | M. RINALDI | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'42.216 | 0.597 | 317,6 |
7 | 45 | S. REDDING | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'42.222 | 0.603 | 317,6 |
8 | 22 | A. LOWES | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'42.259 | 0.640 | 312,1 |
9 | 76 | L. BAZ | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'42.320 | 0.701 | 314,0 |
10 | 91 | L. HASLAM | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1'42.421 | 0.802 | 319,5 |
11 | 7 | C. DAVIES | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'42.422 | 0.803 | 318,6 |
12 | 50 | E. LAVERTY | BMW S1000 RR | 1'42.555 | 0.936 | 316,7 |
13 | 64 | F. CARICASULO | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'42.586 | 0.967 | 315,8 |
14 | 12 | X. FORES | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'42.615 | 0.996 | 309,5 |
15 | 31 | G. GERLOFF | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'42.663 | 1.044 | 313,0 |
16 | 20 | S. BARRIER | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'43.243 | 1.624 | 314,0 |
17 | 97 | S. CAVALIERI | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'43.493 | 1.874 | 314,9 |
18 | 87 | L. ZANETTI | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'44.086 | 2.467 | 309,5 |
19 | 13 | T. TAKAHASHI | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1'44.288 | 2.669 | 306,8 |
20 | 53 | V. DEBISE | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'45.035 | 3.416 | 309,5 |