Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) secured his fifth consecutive MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship pole position in a record-breaking Tissot Superpole session at the Balaton Park circuit. The #11 set a 1’38.094s in his first run to secure P1 on the Race 1 and Tissot Superpole Race grid at the Motul Hungarian Round, with Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) joining the Championship leader on the front row.

THE FIRST RUNS: Bulega’s early times good enough for pole

Bulega went a huge six tenths quicker than Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) in P2 with a 1’38.101s to put two hands on pole position, smashing the all-time lap record. ‘Balda’ slotted into second with Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in a provisional P3, although he was 0.766s behind Bulega. On his second lap on his first run, ‘Bulegas’ improved his time again to lap to a 1’38.094s – beating last year’s pole record by more than a second. His teammate, Iker Lecuona, did not set a representative lap time during the first stint, but he was the first rider to hit the track for his second run.

BALDASSARRI AND MONTELLA IMPROVE: Securing a front-row start

The second runs were disrupted by yellow flags in quick succession after crashes for Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) at Turns 1 and 11 respectively. Bulega did not improve his time as he claimed pole position, while Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) surged up the order to claim a front row start, lapping 0.608s and 0.625s behind Bulega. It means the #11 has taken five consecutive poles in WorldSBK, the fifth-best record and matches Carl Fogarty from 1993. ‘Balda’ claimed his first front-row WorldSBK start, while Montella has taken his third front-row start of the season; only at Assen did he miss out.

SECOND ROW FOR LECUONA: P5 for the Spanish rider

Oliveira had to settle for fourth, his joint best Superpole result, after posting a 1’38.867s; he had been on course for a strong lap, but his time was deleted. Lecuona seemingly struggled to stop the bike at times and had to build up throughout the session as he finished in with a 1’38.878s in P5, ending his front row streak, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) will complete the second row after posting a 1’38.916s to finish as the lead Yamaha rider.

FRUSTRATING FOR SAM LOWES: Seventh for the #14 as Surra impresses again

Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) will go from P7, the first time he hasn’t been in the top five since Most last year, after setting a 1’38.938s, and he’ll be joined on the third row by rookie Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing). The #67 was fifth on Friday and has continued to show strong pace on Saturday as he finished ahead of two-time Champion Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) in ninth. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) missed out on a third-row start by just a tenth of a second.

The top six from WorldSBK Superpole, full results here:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 1’38.094s
2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +0.608s
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.625s
4. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.773s
5. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +0.784s
6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +0.822s

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