Under the watercolour blue skies of the Adriatic, Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli set the perfect scene for Tissot-Superpole, with perfect track conditions teasing the possibilities of records to reset. With Leon Camier on the MV Agusta and Lorenzo Savadori on the Aprilia the two biggest names expected to graduate from Superpole 1, the two riders did their team’s home venue proud to fly the flag and move through into Tissot-Superpole 2 to fight for the front rows.

With the beginning of the final qualifying session temporarily delayed due to track conditions, Superpole 2 got going with a hitch for home hero Davide Giugliano, as the Italian Aruba.it rider suffered a minor lowside on his first lap. Quickly getting to his feet and back to the garage, the Ducati rider prepared for another run as KRT pairing of Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes led the session, from Barni Racing’s Xavi Forés as the Valencian was the fastest Ducati on track.

With Giugliano back out – wearing his special Fabrizio Pirovano tribute helmet – the Italian struck first in the final runs to take half a second off Rea’s best. Times then started to pour in with red sectors lighting up the screen for most riders, with Sykes finally posting a 1:34.037 to top the session with a new best lap, ahead of teammate Rea and the Panigale R of Forés.

Alex Lowes put in a stunning performance despite his injured collarbone to head the second row for Pata Yamaha, ahead of Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori – the winner of the last two STK1000 races in Misano – and Honda’s Nicky Hayden, who had been fastest on Friday. Davide Giuagliano’s earlier fast lap was enough to remain in P7 to head the third row of all Italian bikes, with the two factory Ducatis of Giugliano and Davies split by Leon Camier on the MV Agusta in P8, showing incredible improvement overnight.

Honda rider Michael van der Mark completed the top ten with a lap time less than a tenth away from that of Camier two places ahead of him as the margins were incredibly tight, ahead of Althea BMW pairing of Markus Reiterberger and Jordi Torres, who were the top German machines at the Althea team’s home Round.

Anthony West begins from P13 for Pedercini, ahead of Roman Ramos for GoEleven and the second Pata Yamaha of Niccolo Canepa as the Italian stands in for injured Sylvain Guintoli. The lights go out for Race 1 at 13:00 local time (GMT +2) to see who will take home the first 25 point prize of the weekend at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.