WorldSBK Misano | Rea turns it on when it matters to claim 2021 pole hat-trick

Jonathan Rea denies Ducati its anticipated pole on home soil to make it a hat-trick of WorldSBK pole positions for Kawasaki in 2021

Jonathan Rea - Kawasaki Racing Team 2021

Jonathan Rea continued to ratchet up the pressure on his WorldSBK Championship rivals by once again going against the grain by saving his very best for Superpole at Misano, denying what was expected to be a Ducati pole.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi came into Superpole the favourite to claim his maiden WorldSBK pole position having topped FP2 and this morning's FP3 but with the Italian buckling under pressure to end up in fourth, the way was cleared for Rea to maintain his 100% pole position record in 2021 aboard the new Kawasaki ZX-10RR.

He was pushed harder around the Adriatic circuit than he was at Aragon and Estoril though with Toprak Razgatlioglu just missing out on usurping him by a mere tenth of a second.

Scott Redding starts third to set up a potential repeat showdown form the trio's epic battles in Portugal two weeks' ago, while the in-form Rinaldi cannot be discounted either following some rocket starts off the line in recent races

Tom Sykes lifted his BMW into a noteworthy fifth fastest from Alex Lowes on the second of the Kawasakis in sixth position, only just ahead of the firm's satellite representative in Lucas Mahias on the Puccetti Kawasaki, the Frenchman impressing in qualifying again to snatch seventh ahead of another eye-catching privateer in Axel Bassani, who will start on the front three rows of a WorldSBK race for the first time this afternoon.

This places them ahead of factory riders Alvaro Bautista in ninth on the Honda, Yamaha's Andrea Locatelli (eleventh) and BMW's Michael van der Mark in 13th.

Elsewhere, Garrett Gerloff - who was due to start from the pit-lane as a consequence of his clash with Rinaldi in Estoril - crashed on his first lap and failed to set a time anyway, while Eugene Laverty didn't take part after a heavy crash in FP3.

2021 WorldSBK Misano | Superpole Qualifying Results

2021 WorldSBK Misano | Superpole Qualifying Results | Round 3 / 13
PosRiderNat.WorldSBK TeamSuperbikeTiming
1Jonathan ReaGBRKawasaki Racing TeamKawasakI ZX-10RR1m 33.416
2Toprak RazgatliogluTURPata Yamaha by BRIXXYamaha YZF-R11m 33.515
3Scott ReddingESPAruba Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R1m 33.534
4Michael Ruben RinaldiESPAruba Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R1m 33.678
5Tom SykesGBRBMW Motorrad WorldSBKBMW M1000RR1m 33.860
6Alex LowesGBRKawasaki Racing TeamKawasakI ZX-10RR1m 33.897
7Lucas MahiasESPKawasaki Puccetti RacingKawasakI ZX-10RR1m 33.924
8Axel BassaniESPMotocorsa RacingDucati Panigale V4 R1m 34.012
9Alvaro BautistaESPTeam HRC HondaHonda CBR1000RR-R1m 34.217
10Chaz DaviesGBRTeam GoElevenDucati Panigale V4 R1m 34.453
11Andrea LocatelliITAPata Yamaha by BRIXXYamaha YZF-R11m 34.464
12Leon HaslamESPTeam HRC HondaHonda CBR1000RR-R1m 34.520
13Michael van der MarkNEDBMW Motorrad WorldSBKBMW M1000RR1m 34.674
14Kohta NozaneESPGRT Yamaha WorldSBKYamaha YZF-R11m 34.677
15Jonas FolgerGERBonovo MGM ActionBMW M1000RR1m 34.892
16Tito RabatESPBarni Racing TeamDucati Panigale V4 R1m 35.156
17Isaac VinalesESPOrelac Racing VerdNatura KawasakI ZX-10RR1m 35.622
18Christophe PonssonESPAlstare YamahaYamaha YZF-R11m 35.909
19Samuele CavalieriESPTPR Team Pedercini RacingKawasakI ZX-10RR1m 36.465
20Loris CressonESPTPR Team Pedercini RacingKawasakI ZX-10RR1m 38.365
NQGarrett GerloffESPGRT Yamaha WorldSBKYamaha YZF-R1No Time
NQEugene LavertyIRLRC Squadra CorseBMW M1000RRNo Time