Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu twice broke the all-time lap record to dominate WorldSBK Superpole qualifying at Magny Cours.
Revisiting the circuit that threatened to end his 2024 title run, Razgatlioglu was unfazed as he set the first ever sub-1:35 lap time around the French circuit to take the initiative over rival Nicolo Bulega.
The yellow flags came out after just two minutes as Andrea Locatelli crashed at Turn 2, disrupting the opening laps of some riders in the field.
Garrett Gerloff also suffered an incident at Turn 2, joining Locatelli on the sidelines for the remainder of the session.
The BMW riders set the early pace in the session, with both Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark locking out the top two places on the grid.
Moments later, Alex Lowes on the Bimota set the Superpole record around the Magny Cours circuit but it was only momentarily, as Nicolo Bulega came through to break the all-time lap record.
Championship leader Razgatlioglu needed to find a response to Bulega after being bumped off the front row by Sam Lowes, but had to pull out of his first attempt on his final run.
However, the Turkish rider was undeterred as he set a 1:35.018 to break Bulega’s record set just minutes before.
The double World Champion wasn’t satisfied with his final lap time though, and pushed on to set the first 1:34 lap time around the Magny-Cours circuit.
As the Turkish rider confirmed pole, Bulega was forced to settle for second despite his strong showing throughout practice and the early stages of qualifying.
Sam Lowes completed the front row for MarcVDS after his late lap times forced twin brother Alex Lowes to settle for Row 2.
Andrea Iannone had a resurgence during Superpole and lined himself up in fifth place ahead of Yari Montella in sixth.
Danilo Petrucci was out-qualified by his team-mate as he headed the third row, while van der Mark and Remy Gardner joined the Italian in eighth and ninth respectively.
Axel Bassani rounded out the top 10, with Xavi Vierge qualifying in 11th ahead of Dominique Aegerter in 12th.
Jonathan Rea completed the session in 13th, while Alvaro Bautista was a lowly 14th. Tarran Mackenzie rounded out the fifth row as he joined the multiple World Champions.
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