Ducati title challenger Chaz Davies threw down the gauntlet to Championship leader Jonathan Rea in Race 2 at Imola as the Welshman again lead off the line from pole position and took a commanding victory. Kawasaki Racing Team’s reigning Champion Rea crossed the line second despite struggling with some issues, heading teammate Tom Sykes over the line.
Under worsening skies at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, the WorldSBK grid got away on a dry track with Davies leading off the line and the two KRT riders once again able to leapfrog second Aruab.it rider Davide Giugliano. With a few moments for Rea on track that saw him lose touch with leader Davies, the reigning Champion held it together to get another big haul of points towards his title defence. Sykes kept close to his teammate for the majority of the race, but was unable to make a pass on the daunting 4.9km of Imola.
Davide Giugliano was the lead home rider on the second Aruba.it machine, and started from the middle of the front row to come home in P4, making an improvement on his Saturday result of P5. Leon Camier brought more home glory for the host nation as the Brit rode his MV Agusta to another top 5 finish after a best of P4 recently for the Italian manufacturer, adding more points to the ever expanding tally and completing their first weekend of points scoring finishes at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
Alex Lowes, after a difficult Superpole 2, fought his Pata Yamaha YZF R1 up into the Top 6 after succumbing to Camier, in front of Jordi Torres as the Catalan Althea BMW rider was left outside the top ten near the start of the race and pulled off an impressive recovery ride. Lorenzo Savadori on his Aprilia made sure there was representation for every manufacturer in the top 8 at Imola, before suffering a problem on the last lap and being relegated to P11 over the line.
Honda duo Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark ended the second race of the weekend in P8 and P9 respectively, after a difficult few days in Imola where the Assen podium finishers found themselves further back on the grid than both are used to. Xavi Forés completed the top ten for Barni Racing team on his Ducati, classified ahead of Savadori at the flag.
WorldSBK will now go jet set once again as the paddock heads east to Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia for the next Round of the 2016 season.
WorldSBK – Imola Race 2
1. Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
2. Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team +4.262
3. Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing Team +4.604
Championship Standings After Race 2
Jonathan Rea Kawasaki Racing Team 221
Chaz Davies Aruba.it Racing – Ducati 186
Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing Team 154
