Submitted by Jared Earle on
World Superbike's first Superpole took place on a warm Spanish morning, with Andrea Locatelli holding the quickest lap heading into the session. The return of a Suzuki to the grid for the weekend takes it up to six manufacturers in the series.
After the first flying lap, Andrea Locatelli knocked Toprak Razgatlioglu off the top spot until Jonathan Rea set a 1'36.988 on a Q tyre. With Tom Sykes reminding everyone how good he is with the stickiest rubber around a tenth off Rea's pace, but Rea was able to stretch the tyre's life to a second lap, setting a 1'36.794 before everyone pitted in for new boots and a cuppa.
Scott Redding headed out when the track emptied, wanting the track to himself, and immediately put himself into second place, demoting Sykes to third. Redding didn't get a second lap from his tyre and he returned to his garage. Alex Lowes quietly snuck into second place on an empty track with five minutes left and he pitted in as everyone else started trickling out.
Axel Bassani put his Ducati into fifth place as the clock ticked down and riders started putting in threatening laps with Chaz Davies taking the top spot out of nowhere, with a 1'36.693, only to lose the place to Locatelli then Sykes as five riders were on pace for fastest lap.
With a handful of seconds left, Jonathan Rea set a 1'36.122 with Scott Redding joining him under a tenth behind.
Jonathan Rea took his seventh consecutive pole position, ahead of Scott Redding and Tom Sykes. Andrea Locatelli, Chaz Davies and Lucas Mahias made up the second row, with Alex Lowes, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Garrett Gerloff on row three. Four different manufacturers made up the top four places.
Results:
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap | Speed |
| 1 | 1 | J. REA | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'36.122 | 291,9 | |
| 2 | 45 | S. REDDING | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'36.215 | 0.093 | 287,2 |
| 3 | 66 | T. SYKES | BMW M 1000 RR | 1'36.546 | 0.424 | 285,7 |
| 4 | 55 | A. LOCATELLI | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'36.580 | 0.458 | 289,5 |
| 5 | 7 | C. DAVIES | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'36.693 | 0.571 | 288,0 |
| 6 | 44 | L. MAHIAS | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'36.729 | 0.607 | 285,7 |
| 7 | 22 | A. LOWES | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'36.744 | 0.622 | 291,1 |
| 8 | 54 | T. RAZGATLIOGLU | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'36.752 | 0.630 | 288,0 |
| 9 | 31 | G. GERLOFF | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'36.858 | 0.736 | 280,5 |
| 10 | 60 | M. VAN DER MARK | BMW M 1000 RR | 1'36.895 | 0.773 | 288,0 |
| 11 | 47 | A. BASSANI | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'37.240 | 1.118 | 286,5 |
| 12 | 19 | A. BAUTISTA | Honda CBR1000 RR-R | 1'37.412 | 1.290 | 288,0 |
| 13 | 21 | M. RINALDI | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'37.468 | 1.346 | 284,2 |
| 14 | 94 | J. FOLGER | BMW M 1000 RR | 1'37.661 | 1.539 | 288,8 |
| 15 | 3 | K. NOZANE | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'37.664 | 1.542 | 282,0 |
| 16 | 36 | L. MERCADO | Honda CBR1000 RR-R | 1'37.794 | 1.672 | 282,7 |
| 17 | 91 | L. HASLAM | Honda CBR1000 RR-R | 1'38.012 | 1.890 | 291,1 |
| 18 | 53 | T. RABAT | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1'38.446 | 2.324 | 279,1 |
| 19 | 23 | C. PONSSON | Yamaha YZF R1 | 1'38.948 | 2.826 | 282,0 |
| 20 | 6 | N. URAMOTO | Suzuki GSX-R1000R | 1'38.973 | 2.851 | 274,8 |
| 21 | 14 | J. URIBE | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'40.094 | 3.972 | 280,5 |
| 22 | 84 | L. CRESSON | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1'40.255 | 4.133 | 277,6 |
