Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu was forced to set two all-time lap records on his way to claiming WorldSBK Superpole in Estoril.
In a Superpole session which saw the existing lap record broken three times, Razgatlioglu stole pole position from title rival Nicolo Bulega in the dying minutes of the session with a time of 1:34.203.
Razgatlioglu set a new all-time lap record, of 1:34.743 on his first flying run of the session to put a buffer of six tenths between himself and rival Bulega.
As the field returned to the track for their second runs, Bulega set his personal best time of 1:34.549 to break the Turkish rider’s record and head to the top of the charts.
However, Razgatlioglu was able to respond to the Italian’s challenge in some fashion, setting the third lap record of the Superpole qualifying and claimed his sixth pole position of the season.
Bulega settled for second on the grid despite being the only other rider to set a lap time in the 1:34s.
Alvaro Bautista assured both factory Ducatis made the front row in third, finishing Superpole 0.960s behind Razgatlioglu’s pole time.
Alex Lowes saw the flag in fourth for Bimota, while Xavi Vierge completed a promising outing for Honda in fifth.
GYTR GRT Yamaha’s Remy Gardner was sandwiched between the pair of factory Yamahas in seventh, with Jonathan Rea leading the charge in sixth over team-mate Andrea Locatelli in eighth.
Bimota’s Axel Bassani ended Superpole in ninth, while Andrea Iannone rounded out the top 10 for GoEleven.
Ryan Vickers was 11th for the MotoCorsa team ahead of the second BMW of Michael van der Mark, while Kawasaki’s Garrett Gerloff ended the session in 13th.
Tarran Mackenzie crashed on his opening run of Superpole but found himself in 14th at the chequered flag, while Honda’s Iker Lecuona completed the top 15.
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