That Donington was a Kawasaki-friendly track was already known, but this round’s Superpole was unrivaled for the two Ninja ZX-10RRs. On his home track, Jonathan Rea celebrates, who wins his second Superpole career on the British track and shatters the record: with 1’26 “080, the six-time world champion becomes unbeatable and will start Race 1 from the first box.
An excellent Alex Lowes follows, reinvigorated in front of his audience. The Briton stops at 273 thousandths behind his teammate, also giving the factory team a splendid double. In fact, at Donington, the 1-2 Kawasaki is the first in Superpole since Phillip Island 2019, when Rea and Leon Haslam had signed the double in qualifying.
The first two positions are reserved for the official team, and Toprak Razgatlioglu is closing the front row. The reigning world champion manages to grab the third time in qualifying, however, paying a gap of four tenths, demonstrating the difference that the Kawasakis are making on this track.
The big leap forward is made by Scott Redding, who after being the surprise on Friday is confirmed in excellent shape also in qualifying. BMW brought some news to Donington and the improvements were immediately evident: the Briton opened the second row with an excellent fourth time in Superpole.
If Redding improves, Ducati struggles more on this track: Alvaro Bautista in fact does not go beyond the fifth time. The leader of the standings had arrived at Donington knowing that he will have to suffer a little and in fact is falling behind his direct rival in the standings by six and a half tenths. Immediately behind is Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who with the other Panigale V4R closes the second row with the sixth time.
Iker Lecuona also struggles in this round, with a seventh position in qualifying that leads him to be the first representative of Honda. The Spaniard precedes Garrett Gerloff, who is the first of the independent riders riding the R1 of the GRT team. The American manages to put his Yamaha ahead of Andrea Locatelli’s official one, only ninth. Closes the top 10 Axel Bassani, followed by Philipp Oettl, 11th with the four-cylinder of the Go Eleven team. The other Italian Roberto Tamburini, 19th, is more late.
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