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WorldSBK.com provides you with some interesting facts and information about this weekend's Italian round at Imola.

The best results in Imola for Sylvain Guintoli came two years ago, with a sixth and a seventh. Last year in race one he went wide at Tamburello and fell rejoining the track, taking out Chaz Davies in the process: he was then only eleventh in race two, his worst result under the chequered flag here. In 2010, with Suzuki, he was ninth and eighth.

The current dominator of qualifying, Tom Sykes, posted here his maiden career pole, in 2010, and was back on top of the grid also last year, when he scored his only podium placements here, a couple of second places. In both races he was able to lead the first half, but then he had to give way to Checa, who scored the double in front of him. Tom is the only rider in history who scored two poles in Imola (all the other polesitters scored pole only once here). He is also the only Kawasaki rider to have posted a podium finish in Imola.

In the four races run here, Eugene Laverty finished always between fourth and sixth: he was fifth and fourth with Yamaha two years ago and fifth and sixth last year.

Marco Melandri is looking for his first podium and his first front row start in Imola: in 2011 he was eighth and sixth in the race, while last year he was sixth and tenth. In race one he didn't have an easy time: he had to climb through the field from sixteenth, after a stop&go penalty, while in race two he was affected by chattering. This is one of the two tracks on the current calendar where Marco didn't climb on the podium, the other one is Assen.

An unlucky weekend last year for Chaz Davies in Imola: in race one he was hit by Guintoli's bike and fell, while in race two he was only fourteenth. Also the year before, in the Supersport championship, he didn't enjoy much luck: he had a clear lead when his engine gave up. In the same championship he was fourth in 2009 and third in 2010.

Loris Baz was second last year in the Superstock 1000 race: he lost out to Sylvain Barrier, finishing less than one second behind, he was tenth in the 2009 race.

Jonathan Rea won race one in 2011 and was set for an easy double in race two when he was halted by an electrical problem, which ultimately gave the race to Checa. In all the other races run here he experienced trouble: in 2009 a contact with Fabrizio in race one and a brake problem in race two resulted in two off-track excursions.

Michel Fabrizio lived an amazing weekend here in 2009, when he scored his only pole so far, was third in race one behind Haga and Biaggi and won race two from Haga and Marco Simoncelli. In all the other races run here, he finished only once: race one in 2010, seventh. In the remaining seven he suffered five mechanical failures and two falls.

A bad weekend last year for Davide Giugliano: he fell in the second qualifying session, had to retire for a mechanical failure in race one and ran out of fuel in race two in the final lap, when he was running sixth. Davide was second behind Danilo Petrucci in the 2011 Superstock race and won in 2006 the Superstock 600 race ahead of Xavier Simeon and Sylvain Barrier.

In last year's Supersport race, Jules Cluzel was running fourth before falling. He had obtained the fourth fastest time in qualifying.

Leon Camier climbed on the podium in 2011 in race two, finishing third behind Carlos Checa and Noriyuki Haga and was eighth last year, always in race two. In the two other races run here he didn't enjoy much luck: in race one in 2011 he was wide at Variante Bassa and was forced to go through the pitlane, exiting in last place (he eventually finished the race in 15th), while in race one last year he fell exiting Tamburello.

Carlos Checa is the undisputed king of the Imola track, with five wins out of eight races run: the closest rivals are Ruben Xaus and Regis Laconi, with three each, while among the current riders, only Fabrizio and Rea won here once. Carlos scored the double in 2010 and 2012, finishing third in race one in 2011 and winning race two: this makes for an active podium streak of six races on the Santerno track with five wins and one third place.

Leon Haslam ran no less than ten races here, but had to wait until last year for a podium placement: a couple of thirds, best BMW rider in both races, and in both races passing Biaggi in the closing stages. And it was against Biaggi that in 2010 he lost here his championship hopes: his engine gave up in race two, giving the title to Max. Leon is the only rider who was able to take a BMW bike on the podium here.