Source: Supplied.

At the Motul Italian Round on Sunday it was Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider Chaz Davies who took a superb Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) victory in front of the fans at Imola, with the podium also featuring Kawasaki Racing Team pair Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes.

In a restarted race, following a red flag in the first start earlier in the afternoon, Davies produced a superb ride on the Ducati, overtaking provisional leader Sykes mid-race and going on to win by just under four seconds from Rea.

Davies’ first double victory of 2017 was a repeat of his Imola result from 2016, the Ducati man having also picked up maximum points at the Italian track last year. Sykes had led the race but was eventually unable to hold off his teammate Rea for second across the line by 0.603s.

Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) and home rider Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) were engaged in a close fight for fourth, with Spaniard Fores finally coming out on top in that duel by less than two tenths of a second.

Behind that pair Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) crossed the line in sixth place for more good points, with Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) close by in seventh. It was a solid result for Laverty after a difficult day for him on Saturday, with his big crash in race one.

Likewise an excellent performance by Jordi Torres saw the Althea BMW Racing Team man finish in eighth place having got away from the back of the grid, after he missed Superpole and race one on Saturday due to illness. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) completed the top 10.

There was disappointment for Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who crashed out of second place early on having made a superb start, with Alex De Angelis (Pedercini Racing SC-Project) also crashing shortly after the Englishman. Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) was another crasher and Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was forced to retire due to a technical issue.

In a delayed and shortened WorldSSP race on Sunday afternoon, world champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) took the win, using all his experience to beat Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) and PJ Jacobsen (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), who both joined him on the podium.

Having missed the first two rounds of 2017 due to a training injury and then crashing out on his comeback at Aragon, Sofuoglu built on his Assen victory with a second consecutive triumph in this 11-lap sprint to claw back five points on championship leader Mahias.

Frenchman Mahias remains at the head of the standings following his second place finish, a fourth podium result of the year so far for the Yamaha man. Pole man Jacobsen crossed the line just behind Sofuoglu and Mahias in third, but he was never really able to challenge the leading pair for victory.

The top five also included Sheridan Morais (Kallio Racing) and Kyle Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini), while top of the Australians was Anthony West (EAB West Racing Yamaha) in 11th, Lachlan Epis (Response RE Racing Kawasaki) 19th and Giueseppe Scarcella (Team Lorini Honda) 24th.

An enthralling World Supersport 300 race was won by Spanish rider Marc Garcia (Halcourier Racing) as he beat Italy’s Alfonso Coppola (SK Racing) on the final lap, with Mykyta Kalinin (Team MOTOXRACING) also on the podium.

In Superstock 1000, Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) took a dominant 2.3s victory, with Roberto Tamburini (PATA Yamaha Official STK 1000 Team) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) also on the podium. Mike Jones (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) was eighth and Glenn Scott (Agro On-Benjan Kawasaki) 15th.