Sam Lowes smashed the lap record to claim his first-ever WorldSBK Superpole at the Dutch round in Assen.
The Marc VDS rider produced an incredible record lap of 1.32.596s around the fast-paced Dutch circuit.
The former Moto2 race winner will start Race 1 from the front later this afternoon, defeating the incumbent championship leader Nicolo Bulega by 0.164s.
Bulega had previously dominated the early stages but his lap time was comprised by Bimota rider Axel Bassani.
Bulega’s primary championship rival Toprak Razgatlioglu could only muster third place for BMW despite looking like a strong favourite for the pole position.
Bassani maintained his strong pace on Friday to secure fourth spot for Bimota, defeating factory Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista and Yamahas Andrea Locatelli by under 0.050s.
Danilo Petrucci’s previous lap was cancelled due to track limits but crafted together a strong lap to place him in seventh place.
Remy Gardner finished the Superpole in a commendable eighth place for GRT Yamaha as the Australian aims to make it back-to-back podiums in as many years.
Alex Lowes closed out the third row for Bimota, finishing ahead of GoEleven’s Andrea Iannone and the second GRT Yamaha rider of Dominique Aegerter.
WorldSBK newcomer Yari Montella finished 12th for Barni Spark Racing, bettering home nation favourite Michael van der Mark who claimed 13th place.
Iker Lecuona finished 14th as the lead Honda rider, followed by Tarran Mackenzie who produced a strong qualifying on the Petronas Racing Honda.
Fellow countryman Scott Redding could only produce 16th on his Bonovo Ducati, but the depth in the field showed that the top 16 riders were separated by one second.
Kawasaki rider Garrett Gerloff and Honda HRC rider Xavi Vierge qualified in 17th and 18th place, respectively, lapping half a second quicker than nearest challenger Bahattin Sofuoglu.
Tito Rabat qualified a distant 20th in the session, while Ryan Vickers, Jason O’Halloran and Zaqhwan Zaidi filled the final three positions on the grid.
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