Hard Fought Podium Finish For Rea In Imola Race Two.

Jonathan Rea scored another second place in today’s Superbike World Championship race at Imola to extend his overall lead in the standings to 74 points after five rounds.  On a day laden with red flag delays and false starts it was once again Chaz Davies (Ducati) who took victory with Jonathan’s team-mate Tom Sykes finishing third.

As a result of the rules that govern race two grid positions, Rea’s second place in yesterday’s WorldSBK race one meant he started today’s race from the middle of row three, in eighth place.  He quickly made up a number of places but found himself first dicing with Marco Melandri (Ducati) and then Sykes, who had started from pole, whilst Davies forged an unassailable lead.

Rea and Kawasaki Racing Team will now look forward to Donington Park in two weeks time for round six of thirteen in this year’s championship.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “It was difficult at times today especially because I made a mistake going into the Variante Bassa chicane at one point. I lost all the track positions that I gained in the first few corners and that changed my race completely. I feel that if I did not lose those I would have had something extra to - maybe not win the race - but for sure to go with Chaz. I got stuck behind some traffic after that but when I went through I was able to keep a consistent rhythm. I was too far back from Chaz but today we halved the winning margin compared to yesterday. I raced with the new soft prototype front tyre and in these temperatures I think it was maybe too soft an option for our bike. But I am generally content to have increased our championship lead, take 40 points and get on the podium twice at what is probably not our strongest track right now. It has been a really positive weekend.”