Source: Honda Racing.

Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea is the new World Superbike Championship points leader after a dominant double victory at Imola in Italy.

Rea has been the primary pacesetter for the entire weekend, and the trend carried over onto race day as he raced from pole to two comfortable wins.

Race one saw Rea make an early break, chased in the initial stages by Ducati Team’s Chaz Davies.

Davies’ attention was diverted by the pursuing pack, with Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli launching their own challenges for second.

Davies fought back and would hold second, a significant first podium since his switch to the Panigale. Sykes was third from teammate Loris Baz, while Guintoli faded late in the piece and finished fifth.

Marco Melandri was the first Italian rider home in sixth but struggled in comparison to his regular rivals. Seventh and eighth belonged to the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki machines of Eugene Laverty and Alex Lowes, with Red Devils Roma Aprilia rider Toni Elias ninth and Leon Haslam completing the top 10 for Pata Honda.

BMW Motorrad Italia SBK rider Leon Camier was solid again as lead EVO sub-class rider, finishing 11th outright.

Race two belonged to Rea once more, with the Ulsterman firing away from the line for a second lights to flag victory. Coupled with his win in the wet at Assen, the achievement marks three wins in a row and moves Rea four points clear of Sykes.

Davies proved one of the top performers once more, fighting his way onto the podium thanks to a late burst of pace aboard his Ducati.

He would finish 4.095 seconds shy of Rea, with Guintoli relinquishing second in the latter stages but holding onto the final podium place in third.

Baz was another big mover in the final laps, taking advantage of an uncharacteristic struggle suffered by teammate Sykes. The factory Kawasakis claimed fourth and fifth respectively.

Davide Giugliano registered sixth after a non-finish in the earlier race, with Elias seventh, Haslam eighth, Laverty ninth and Lowes 10th after a costly run-off.

Camier was again the top EVO finisher but would inherit the position from Niccolo Canepa who retired with a technical problem late in the piece.

Pata Honda rider Lorenzo Zanetti claimed a career-first win in the World Supersport class, a popular result on home turf.

Zanetti had been running second to Mahi Racing Team Kawasaki’s Kenan Sofuolgu before the Turkish former champion was forced into the pits marking his third non-finish from four starts.

Michael van der Mark made it a one-two result for Pata Honda, closing up on his teammate towards the end of the race to finish 2.072 seconds in arrears.

Florian Marino took the final podium place on offer, finishing ahead of Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres teammate PJ Jacobsen.

Fifth was Roberto Rolfo, with Fabio Menghi, Marco Bussolotti, Ricardo Russo, Kevin Wahr and Alessandro Nocco completing the final respective placings within the top 10.

Today’s result sees van der Mark and Marino move to equal first on the 600cc class ladder, with 65 points apiece.

Superstock 1000 race victory went the way of Barni Racing Team rider Ondrej Jezek, beating fellow Ducati pilot Andre Massei to the line by 1.394 seconds. Leandro Mercado was a lonely third but his podium result completed an important sweep for the Ducati brand on home soil.

2014 World Superbike Championship
Round four – Imola, Italy

Superbike race one results:
1. Jonathan REA
2. Chaz DAVIES +4.511
3. Tom SYKES +6.492
4. Loris BAZ +8.434
5. Sylvain GUINTOLI +9.134
6. Marco MELANDRI +14.925
7. Eugene LAVERTY +19.973
8. Alex LOWES +21.582
9. Toni ELIAS +28.781
10. Leon HASLAM +31.245

Superbike race two results:
1. Jonathan REA
2. Chaz DAVIES +4.095
3. Sylvain GUINTOLI +5.546
4. Loris BAZ +6.285
5. Tom SYKES +7.147
6. Davide GIUGLIANO +22.054
7. Toni ELIAS +25.811
8. Leon HASLAM +26.127
9. Eugene LAVERTY +26.306
10. Alex LOWES +33.046

Superbike championship standings (after round four of 15):
1. Jonathan REA 139
2. Tom SYKES 135
3. Sylvain GUINTOLI 123
4. Loris BAZ 119
5. Chaz DAVIES 87
6. Marco MELANDRI 84
7. Davide GIUGLIANO 69
8. Eugene LAVERTY 62
9. LeonHASLAM 58
10. Alex LOWES 50

Supersport race results:
1. Lorenzo ZANETTI
2. Michael van der MARK +2.072
3. Florian MARINO +6.263
4. PJ JACOBSEN +10.043
5. Roberto ROLFO +16.366
6. Fabio MENGHI +23.914
7. Marco BUSSOLOTTI +24.060
8. Ricardo RUSSO +24.150
9. Kevin WAHR +24.996
10. Alessandro NOCCO +25.115

Supersport championship standings (after round four of 15):
1. Michael Van Der MARK 65
2. Florian MARINO 65
3. Lorenzo ZANETTI 49
4. Kevin COGHLAN 44
5. Jules CLUZEL 42
6. Raffaele DE ROSA 38
7. Roberto ROLFO 30
8. Roberto TAMBURINI 29
9. Kenan SOFUOGLU 25
10. Kevin WAHR 23

Click here for detailed results