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Motul Italian Round Sunday Guide

Saturday, 13 May 2017 17:32 GMT

Find out all the facts and stats ahead of race day at Imola

1st in the championship – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)

For the third straight race at Imola, Jonathan Rea was second to Chaz Davies: this was his 97th career podium, the 8th straight in Imola (9th in total). Race 2 will be the third track where he recorded a 10th podium finish after Assen (14 podiums) and Algarve (10). With a podium in Race 2, both Rea and Sykes could become the only riders with 10 WorldSBK Imola podiums. Race 2 will be the 60th straight race with Jonathan Rea as the Championship leader. After 9 races he has the same points that he had two years ago at the same stage of the championship. His main rival at the time was Leon Haslam at 153 points, this year his team-mate Sykes at 144.  Race 1 was Rea’s 201st start, equalling double World Champion James Toseland at the 10th all-time spot.

2nd in the championship – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)

Race 1 was the first Imola race that Tom Sykes has finished off the podium since 2014, when he was 5th in Race 2: all his other Imola races from 2012 onwards he has finished on the podium. In Qualifying Sykes lost pole by only 0.032 seconds, the same margin that separated him with his team-mate Rea who was poleman at Phillip Island, in the opening round of this season. Thanks to the new regulations, he will start from pole at Imola in Race 2 for the first time since 2013. For the first time this year, Sykes was not on the podium at the end of the first race of the weekend. In Race 1 he equalled Carl Fogarty for race starts, 219. In Race 2 he will become the 5th rider with at least 220 starts in WorldSBK.

3rd in the championship – Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

Pole, win, fastest race lap, led from lights to flag: Davies recorded this feat last year in both races in Imola and later in the season, in Race 1 at the Lausitzring. Will start Race 2 from 9th on the grid: Carlos Checa in 2009 recorded a double for Ducati in Imola from that starting spot, the lowest for a win at this track. So far, only Jonathan Rea was able to win 4 straight races in Imola, in 2014 and 2015: Davies has the chance to equal his countryman in Race 2. With a win in Race 2 he would equal 1990 World Champion Raymond Roche for wins, 23, at the 10th all-time spot.  In Race 1 Davies perpetuated four Imola streaks: 9th straight win for a British rider at the track, the 13th straight won from the front row; the 8th straight led by only one manufacturer and the 4th straight led by only one rider.

4th in the championship – Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

Like in Assen, Marco Melandri climbed for the first time on the podium at his 9th attempt in Imola: now the only track where he hasn’t score a podium is Losail. 6 podiums this year, 5 of them are 3rd places.

6th in the championship – Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team)

Michael Van der Mark finished 4 races out of 5 in Imola: he was twice 7th (2016/1, 2017/1) and twice 9th (2015/1, 2016/2).

7th in championship – Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team)

The 5th in Race 1 is Fores’ best result in Imola and his 3rd top-5 finish this season after Phillip Island/2 (5th) and Assen/1 (4th).

In Race 1, a British rider won for the 23rd consecutive race; this is the second longest run of consecutive race wins for British riders after the 24 successive wins recorded between Phillip Island/1 and Magny Cours/2 in 2015.