Alvaro Bautista maintained his position at the head of the World Superbike Champions🔴hip timesheets as he prepares for a Superpole Race in which he stands to gain over last-pla𝐆ce starting Jonathan Rea.

Picking up where he left off from his domin🏅ant win in ra🍸ce one, Bautista was two tenths quicker than Michael van der Mark in a repeat of the 1-2 from yesterday’s encounter.

Significantly, Bautista heads into the morning’s Superpole Race in a strong position to capi🗹talise on title rival Rea after the Kawasaki rider was demoted to the back of the grid as punishment for his collision with Alex Lowes.

Focusing on set-up, Rea was seventh best, with Lowes – who passed his medical to compete due to a should𓆏er injury sustained in the aforementioned incident – was up in third place. He starts on the front row alongside Bautista and Marco Melandri as a result of Rea’s penalty.

Chaz Davies was a vastly improved fourth quickest on a weekend that has seen hiܫm struggle for pace, ahead of Melandri, BMW’s Tom Sykes and Re♈a.

Fur♛ther back, Tommy Bridewell was 15th quickest on the Goeleven Ducati, while Loris Baz failed to ge𝕴t out to set a time.