Spies looking to extend championship lead at Imola
Spies has an 18 point lead over Haga now with six races to go and a potential 150 further points up for grabs. Sykes currently sits in eighth position, trailing Carlos Checa in seventh by 12 points and 36 points behind rival Brit Leon Haslam in sixth.
Both riders benefit from having tested at Imola over the summer so will not have to use their first practice sessions to learn the circuit.
"I'm looking forward to riding on a track we've tested at again," said Ben Spies. " I feel we should have a good weekend coming up as we have a lot of data to go on, we got a lot accomplished at the test. We don't have as big a lead as we would like but I've been in this situation before, it's not so strange for me. As far as I'm concerned, we're going to Imola to try and win two races. We know this is Ducati's back yard and the past has been pretty good for them, so it will be tough. Having said that we have some good stuff worked out with the bike and the team has been continuing to develop so I'm confident we can pull in some good results."
