Alvaro Bautista is right where he wants to be as he looks to wrap up his second World Superbike title after winning Saturday's Superpole session on the final weekend of the season at Circuito de Jerez.
With Bautista needing just two points from this weekend's action to successfully defend his crown, it means his nearest rival Toprak Razgatlioglu will likely need some sort of miracle to avoid defeat in their season-long battle.
It was Bautista's fourth pole of the season and came at the perfect time as he looks to seal the deal in front of his home fans in Spain this weekend.
While Razgatlioglu had set the pace in practice on Friday, it was a different story on Saturday morning.
After bossing FP3, Bautista made another statement in Superpole, leaping into top spot with a best of 1m 38.635s.
Dominique Aegerter came closest to unseating the Aruba Ducati rider for GYTR GRT Yamaha and will start from second on the grid ahead of Kawasaki duo Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea in third and fourth place respectively.
Aegerter's teammate Remy Gardner secured fifth ahead of Phillipp Oettl for GoEleven Ducati.
Unfortunately for Razgatlioglu, the Pata Yamaha Prometeon rider could only manage seventh place, more than half a second down on Bautista, suggesting the Spaniard already has the title all but sown up.
TIMES
1 Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.It Racing Ducati 1m 38.635s
2 Dominique Aegerter SWI GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team +0.210s
3 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +0.270s
4 Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +0.272s
5 Remy Gardner AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team +0.326s
6 Philipp Oettl GER GoEleven Ducati +0.456s
7 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK +0.516s
8 Scott Redding GBR ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +0.529s
9 Garrett Gerloff USA Bonovo Action BMW +0.555s
10 Andrea Locatelli ITA Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK +0.665s
11 Michael Ruben Rinaldi ITA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +0.683s
12 Danilo Petrucci ITA Barni Spark Racing Team +0.750s
13 Michael Van Der Mark NED ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +0.844s
14 Iker Lecuona SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +1.113s
15 Axel Bassani ITA Motocorsa Ducati +1.139s
16 Xavi Vierge SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +1.157s
17 Tito Rabat SPA Puccetti Kawasaki +1.592s
18 Loris Baz FRA Bonovo Action BMW +1.752s
19 Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA GMT94 Yamaha +1.783s
20 Gabriele Ruiu ITA Bmax Racing BWM +2.492s
21 Hafizh Syahrin MAL PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing +2.596s
22 Leandro Mercado ARG PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing +2.852s
23 Florian Alt GER Team HRC +3.045s
24 Oliver Konig CZE Orelac Racing Kawasaki +3.379s