WorldSBK Argentina Superpole Results: Bautista on pole in dusty farce

Alvaro Bautista prevailed in a bizarre Superpole session ahead of the penultimate round of the 2019 World Superbike Championship at San Juan Villicum as terrible conditions caught out several riders in Argentina.

With WorldSBK riders rounded on officials by blasting the circuit as ‘dangerous’ after free practice due dusty layers creating treacherously slippery conditions, it was hoped Superpole would allow them to push on qualifying tyres.

However, instead the opposite was true, with no riders improving in the final minutes despite the grippier rubber at their disposal, with Bautista’s lap of 1m 40.771secs more than a second slower than the top time from FP3 earlier in the day.

Indeed, with a clear layer of dust off-line leaving only a slim margin of clean track for the riders to push on, many had to tread tentatively on their best laps, while others ran off altogether. As such, riders are predicting an unusual race with few opportunities to make a pass.

Nevertheless, the front row comprises of three different manufacturers as Ducati’s Bautista secured his first pole since Assen, followed by Michael van der Mark on the Yamaha and 2019 WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea, who ran off having looked on course to beat his erstwhile title rival’s time. 

Toprak Razgatlioglu heads up row two on the Puccetti Kawasaki from Alex Lowes and Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who impressed on the privateer Barni Ducati to out-qualify team-mate Chaz Davies for the third race in succession in sixth and seventh.

Securing his first-ever top ten start in WorldSBK, Alessandro Delbianco was an eye-catching eighth on the Althea Mie Honda, the Italian benefitting from trailing Rea on his best lap.

Sandro Cortese, Marco Melandri and Leon Camier – one of the few to improve late on – comprise row four, while Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam endured difficult sessions down in 13th and 14th respectively.

Elsewhere, Loris Baz crashed early on but while he returned to track in the closing stages could do now better than 18th, ahead only of home hero Leandro Mercado, who didn’t get on track due to ongoing technical issues on the Orelac Kawasaki. 

2019 WorldSBK Argentina Superpole Qualifying Results