Chaz Davies secures back-to-back wins at Imola

14 May 2017 02:39

Chaz Davies powered to victory in race two to complete the double in round five of the Superbike World Championship at Imola .

The Aruba.it Racing - Ducati rider took the chequered flag in race one on Saturday and eventually secured back-to-back wins after a restart was needed in race two due to a red flag, resulting in a 40-minute delay to clean up an oil spill.

Following the restart of the race, which was reduced from 20 laps to 18, pole-sitter Tom Sykes stormed into a commanding lead inside the opening two laps with Leon Camier (MV Agusta) behind in second after starting fifth on the grid.

But Camier's race ended one lap later as he crashed out which helped Davies move into second place.

Reigning world champion Jonathan Rea, who qualified in fourth, made a shaky start after he misjudged a chicane on the opening lap to drop to sixth but soon fought back to move into third as Davies took the lead from Kawasaki Racing rider Sykes with 12 laps remaining.

Davies never relinquished the lead once he was in front but Northern Ireland's Rea produced a strong finish to claim second ahead of team-mate Sykes.

Xavi Fores finished fourth with home rider Marco Melandri in fifth. Alex Lowes and Eugene Laverty finished in sixth and seventh respectively.

Source: PA