Nicolo Bulega set himself up nicely into his burgeoning coronation for the 2023 WorldSSP Championship title as he reeled off yet another dominant pole position in Portimao.

A ninth pole position in 11 attempts, Bulega’s vast half-second lead over second place man Stefano Manzi only served to emphasise his imperious form on the Aruba Ducati Panigale V2 this season.

In the context of the championship, Bulega takes a 15 point lead over Manzi into the first of the weekend’s two WorldSSP races this afternoon. As such, even if Bulega wins both races, if Manzi finishes second in each encounter then he will keep the title fight alive to the season finale in Jerez.

However, if Bulega wins and Manzi finishes off the podium in either race, it is the Italian who will walk away with the title with a round in hand.

Nevertheless, Manzi in second kept up some pressure on Bulega, the Ten Kate Yamaha rider slotted between another Ducati belonging to Yari Montella on the Barni Spark machine.

A strong session all around for Ten Kate Racing, Jorge Navarro enjoyed his strong qualifying of the season in fourth place, the ex-Moto2 rider sharing row two with Valentin Debise and Tom Edwards, the Australian surprising in sixth on the YART Yamaha R6.

Elsewhere, Tom Booth-Amos - who is sacrificing his British Supersport title aspirations this weekend in order to secure the points he needs to win the WorldSSP Cup - will start in 13th place on his Motozoo Kawasaki, while John McPhee qualified 19th in what is his second appearance of the season with D34G Ducati.

Finally, Tarran Mackenzie brought out a late red flag when he crashed at Turn 13 with just over three minutes of the session remaining. The 2021 BSB Champion starts 25th.