Reigning WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea took his maiden Motorland Aragon pole position this morning with it the outright lap record to beat the time set by Alvaro Bautista last season.
Rea was the only rider under the 1’49s barrier when the yellow-banded qualifying tyres came out to set a 1’48.860. He was chased hard and close by the Ten Kate Yamaha of Loris Baz who finished with a 1’49.031 and a relatively distant Scott Redding in third three-tenths off the pace.
Superpole king Tom Sykes crashed on his flying lap after setting the fastest first sector and he will have some work to do from 14th place this afternoon.
Rea's team-mate Alex Lowes bounced back from his crash yesterday to head the second row, finishing 0.365 off the pace with Michael Rinaldi punching the tank in joy for fifth place as he crossed the line.
Former British Superbike Champion Leon Haslam was first on the qualifying tyre with seven minutes left and set a 1'49.730 to lead Alvaro Bautista by 0.040s. Both Honda men suffered with issues yesterday but have come back well in Superpole.
Chaz Davies will again need to come through the pack without wrecking his tyres in order to take advantage of the pace he showed in FP2 yesterday. The Welshman starts from ninth with Garrett Gerloff putting his GRT Yamaha in tenth, three behind the works R1 of Michael van der Mark.
Toprak Razgatlioglu is still struggling in 11th place, just ahead of Max Schieb with Xavi Fores, Sykes and Tati Mercado finishing the top 15. Eugene Laverty was 18th, one ahead of Marco Melandri.
