Toprak on top at Most

Turk gun secures pole for BMW ahead of Bulega despite cancelled lap record, Gardner top Yamaha in 6th

Toprak Razgatlioglu continued his domination at Autodrom Most by securing a third consecutive pole position at the Czech venue in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK rider delivered a scintillating sub 1:30 lap time at the end of  the Tissot Superpole session, which would have been an all-time track record, but much to his frustration the lap was cancelled due to a yellow flag at the final corner caused by a Tarram Mackenzie accident. In the end Toprak’s previous best time of 1:30.397 was good enough to narrowly edge out Ducati rival Nicolo Bulega by just 0.033 seconds. It was a commanding performance from the Turkish star, who had topped every practice session leading into qualifying.

Razgatlioglu wasted no time setting the pace, quickly matching his best lap of the weekend on his first flying tour before shaving off half a second on his next. His third consecutive flyer was enough to seal the deal, as several rivals struggled to match the blistering times. Danilo Petrucci temporarily led the charts early on but would ultimately settle for third, earning a valuable front-row start for the Barni Spark Racing Team.

Bulega joined Razgatlioglu and Petrucci on the front row after clocking his best time later in the session, just missing out on top spot but maintaining valuable track position for the upcoming races. Razgatlioglu actually set an even faster 1:29.799, but the lap was nullified due to yellow flags caused by a crash for Tarran Mackenzie at Turn 21, leaving his earlier effort as the pole-winning benchmark. The pole is Razgatlioglu’s 20th in WorldSBK competition and strengthens his championship campaign.

Fourth went to Alex Lowes aboard the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10RR, putting himself in the conversation for a potential podium and marking a strong performance for the returning manufacturer. Iker Lecuona delivered an impressive fifth for the factory Honda squad, closely followed by Aussie Remy Gardner in sixth on his GYTR GRT Yamaha. The lineup reflected the competitiveness of the grid with five different manufacturers represented in the top six.

This result also marked a milestone for Honda, as Lecuona’s effort combined with Xavi Vierge’s recent P5 at Cremona made it the first time since 2022 that the Japanese manufacturer has secured multiple top-five Superpole finishes in a single season. However, Gardner’s challenge in Race 1 will be compromised by a ride-through penalty for an earlier incident involving yellow flags during Free Practice 1.

Yari Montella’s seventh-place effort was his best qualifying result of the season for Barni Spark. Garrett Gerloff followed with his own season-best in eighth for Kawasaki, joining Montella on the third row. Sam Lowes, after showing strong pace throughout the weekend, had a potential hot lap deleted due to yellow flag infringements and settled for ninth.

It was a tough day for reigning world champion Alvaro Bautista, who could only manage tenth on the Aruba.it Ducati. The result marked his worst Superpole performance of the year and sets the stage for a challenging race ahead.

Czech WorldSBK Superpole