Toprak Razgatlioglu has taken pole position for Round 10 of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship at San Juan Villicum, with title rivals Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista joining him on the front row of the grid.
The defending champion comes into the first of three flyaways to conclude the 2022 WorldSBK season needing a strong weekend after only being able to reduce Alvaro Bautista’s sizeable 56 point advantage last time out at Portimao.
Indeed, with only three rounds and nine races remaining this year, Ducati rider Bautista is in the driving seat to win his maiden WorldSBK title though the Spaniard has been on the back foot relative to Razgatlioglu in Argentina so far this weekend.
Quickest in all three free practice sessions leading up to Superpole, though Razgatlioglu left it late to set his fastest time - and was fortunate to be ahead of a crash for Loris Baz just behind him that brought out the yellow flags late on - his effort of 1m 36.216secs was a comfortable two tenths up on the opposition.
Leading the chase was Kawasaki’s Rea, the Ulsterman still in with a shout of the title but needing a minor miracle this weekend having slipped 82 points adrift of Bautista up top.
Bautista, meanwhile, gets underway from the front row, where he will likely remain a threat given his strength in race conditions despite being almost half a second slower over a quick lap.
Heading up the second row will be Iker Lecuona, the Honda rider powering up the leaderboard to nip ahead of top BMW rider Scott Redding, the Briton ensuring all five manufacturers are represented in the leading five positions.
Despite his fall, a strong early effort from Baz allowed him to complete the second row in sixth place, ahead of Axel Bassani and Michael Ruben Rinaldi, while Xavi Vierge completed the third row from Andrea Locatelli, the Pata Yamaha rider rounding out the top ten.
The first WorldSBK race from San Juan Villicum kicks off at 19:00GMT
2022 WorldSBK Championship | San Juan Villicum, Argentina | Superpole Qualifying Results
| 2022 WorldSBK Championship | San Juan Villicum, Argentina | Superpole Qualifying Results | Round 10 / 12 | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | WorldSBK Team | Superbike | Timing |
| 1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha R1 | 1m 36.216 |
| 2 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 36.449 |
| 3 | Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Aruba Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 36.671 |
| 4 | Iker Lecuona | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 36.953 |
| 5 | Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 36.974 |
| 6 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 37.027 |
| 7 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 37.031 |
| 8 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 37.066 |
| 9 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 37.122 |
| 10 | Xavi Vierge | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 37.159 |
| 11 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha R1 | 1m 37.347 |
| 12 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Yamaha Team | Yamaha R1 | 1m 37.399 |
| 13 | Lucas Mahias | FRA | Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 37.634 |
| 14 | Michael van der Mark | NED | BMW Motorrad | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 37.770 |
| 15 | Xavi Fores | ESP | Barni Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 37.908 |
| 16 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | GRT Yamaha Team | Yamaha R1 | 1m 38.108 |
| 17 | Philipp Oettl | ESP | Team GoEleven | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 38.149 |
| 18 | Eugene Laverty | IRL | Bonovo Action BMW | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 38.153 |
| 19 | Leandro Mercado | ARG | MIE Racing Team | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 38.184 |
| 20 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac VerdNatura | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 38.683 |
| 21 | Max Scheib | CHI | MIE Racing Team | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 39.225 |
| 22 | Marco Solorza | ARG | TPR Pedercini Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 40.750 |
