Toprak Razgatlioglu took the top spot in qualifying for Round 7 of the 2023 WorldSBK Championship at Imola, albeit after Alvaro Bautista saw his pole-winning effort deleted after some deliberation.

The Turk had a fast time set earlier in the session to thank for ending up at the summit of the timesheets as yellow flags shook up the final order post-session. He heads up a front row of Axel Bassani and Alvaro Bautista, while Scott Redding and Bradley Ray produced standout performances in fifth and sixth respectively.

Indeed, it was a contentious conclusion to the Superpole session, Bautista had looked to have done enough to secure the top spot after a scintillating effort of 1m 45.871secs with just over two minutes remaining.

However, it was a lap achieved just as marshals were clearing the Motocorsa Ducati of Axel Bassani following a low-side at Rivazza.

Even so, the lap stood for some time afterwards as stewards seemingly determined whether Bautista had breached the yellow flag zone on the long run downhill to the double left-hander. 

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The decision came just as the flag was about to fall, with Bautista’s demotion triggering a flurry of deleted lap times, a frustration that was then compounded by Iker Lecuona crashing his Honda coming out of the final corner so as to scupper any fast final laps coming up behind him.

Once the leaderboard had rearranged itself, it left Razgatlioglu on top, the 2021 WorldSBK Champion taking over from Bautista for his third pole position of the season, his first since Round 2 in Indonesia.

Ironically, Razgatlioglu was one of those riders to lose a fast time due to yellow flags but had a rapid earlier lap to fall back on. The same couldn’t be said for Andrea Locatelli, who along with Bradley Ray, was circulating with the Turk and held second at the flag before being shaken down to fourth.

Alongside Razgatlioglu, Bassani will get underway from a career-best second on the grid, even if his tumble at Rivazza with three minutes remaining was responsible for much of the late leaderboard drama.

To his credit, Bassani could have come away with a maiden pole position, the Italian having built up a rapid momentum as he entered the final stages of the lap. However, though he was able to squeeze between two slower riders at the crest of the hill that leads to the left-hander without losing time, the loss of concentration led to his Ducati washing out into the gravel trap.

However, in a twist of fate, with his crash affecting those coming up from behind, Bassani would find himself creeping back up the timesheets again, eventually leaving him in second.

Though it wasn't pole position, Bautista still remains a threat in third place, while Locatelli in fourth is also well placed to show his evident pace on the second of the Pata Yamahas.

Redding, Ray shine to secure second row starts

Another big beneficiary was Scott Redding, the ROKiT BMW rider scoring his and the manufacturer's best grid position of the season, an achievement bettered by rookie Bradley Ray, who scored a huge personal best for both himself and the Motoxracing Yamaha team in sixth.

The Briton, who has looked strong all weekend despite it being his first visit to Imola, made the most of tracking the Pata Yamahas to haul himself up the order. It might have been fifth place but for him getting his best time deleted, but sixth is a big improvement on his previous best of 15th.

Jonathan Rea finds himself with work to do from seventh on the grid, ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi, the Italian unable to build on his top time in FP2 and FP3 to go any better than eighth.

Loris Baz enjoyed one of his best Superpoles of the year in ninth, while Danilo Petrucci rounds out the top ten.

Of the remaining Brits, Alex Lowes finds himself somewhat out of position in 11th place, while Leon Haslam starts 14th for his first BMW WorldSBK outing since 2012.