Ducati’s Scott Redding proved he’d got to grips with the San Juan Circuit quickly on Saturday, securing the WorldSBK Superpole on his debut visit.
The Aruba.it man set a 1’37.617 lap around the Andes venue to fend off Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and a surprising late-charge from fellow Ducati rider Axel Bassani.
The KRT duo led the way as the initial laps registered for the 15-minute qualifying session. Razgatlioglu bettering Jonathan Rea with his first effort before the pace ramped up again.
Bassani sat fourth ahead of fellow Italian Andrea Locatelli before Garett Gerloff leapfrogged the pair with his second lap.
Razgatlioglu improved to sit three-tenths clear at the halfway stage, Pata Yamaha teammate Locatelli following to third as the birthday pair looked for extra reasons to celebrate.
A strong showing from Isaac Viñales found the Spaniard in seventh, with Michael van der Mark, Tati Mercado and Michael Ruben Rinaldi completing the top 10 before Leon Haslam bettered the quartet on the HRC.
Scott Redding claimed provisional pole with his third lap of the session, a 1’37.617 bettering the championship leader by just under two-tenths as the pack returned to the pits for fresh tyres.
Van der Mark returned with a sixth place effort, seventh-tenths adrift of his soon-to-be teammate ahead. Lowes took third before Bassani instantly demoted him as the penultimate minute neared.
Disaster striking the home hero, Mercado as the Honda rider crashed out, Chaz Davies and Eugene Laverty dropping him to 14th in the times.
The yellow flags prevented any further challenges as the chequered flag prepared to fly. Redding sitting pretty on pole from Razgatlioglu and Bassani as the session concluded with Lowes, Rea and Locatelli completing row two.
