Rea heads Kawasaki 1-2 ahead of Lowes | Donington WorldSBK Superpole Results

Superpole for the fifth round of the 2022 Superbike World Championship was, as Friday, held under sunlight which was increasing in intensity.  

The short, 15-minute Superpole session took place after FP3, in which Garrett Gerloff was fastest. But after topping Friday afternoon's FP2 by almost half-a-second, Jonathan Rea was favourite to take pole position at what is his home race.

An early crash for Loris Baz at turn one limited his potential for the session (although he was able to get back out later on for 14th) while the early pace was set by Eugene Laverty, who sat at the top briefly before the major runners came through.

When they did, it was Jonathan Rea who was fastest ahead of Scott Redding, while Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu were the only other riders within half-a-second of Rea after the opening salvos. 

Next came the SCQ tyres, of course, which would provide the optimum grip for a fast time. Once again it was Rea who had the most potential, and he was even able to improve on the second lap of the tyre - a rarity with the new-for-2022 SCQs. 

Scott Redding was unable to benefit to the same extent with the Q tyre as the SCX on the first run from Rea's tow, and he ended up fourth, as Alex Lowes and Toprak Razgatlioglu completed the front row. 

Alvaro Bautista was fifth, ahead of his factory Ducati teammate Michael Rinaldi who completed row two; while Iker Lecuona will start race one later today from seventh, alonsdie Garrett Gerloff and Andrea Locatelli on row three.

Full WorldSBK Superpole results from Donington Park are below.

2022 WorldSBK Championship | Donington, UK |  Superpole RESULTS