Imola Results

World Superbike 2014

maddix park mx

www.motorcycle-usa.com  By Byron Wilson  

Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea maintained the momentum he picked up in the previous World Superbike round at Assen, taking a double win at Imola and moving to the top of the championship standings. In both races Rea was followed by Ducati’s Chaz Davies while Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli split third-place results.

Race 1

Rea’s start in Race 1 was so strong it looked as if he may have jumped the gun, but he was clear of any penalty and settled into the lead position. Guintoli and his teammate, Marco Melandri, trailed Rea through the opening turns followed by Davies and Sykes. Guintoli made an early mistake in a tight turn and was forced to run through the grass, falling out of position in the top-three. Soon after Melandri dropped back in the ranks as well, leaving Rea, Davies and Sykes out front.

By Lap 3 Rea had already started to pull away from the field, and Davies was looking to do the same. Sykes, however continued to tail the Ducati ace and by Lap 8 was challenging for the runner-up spot. Guintoli and Sykes’ teammate, Loris Baz, got in the mix as well and the four-rider battle for second continued through the bulk of the contest.

With five laps remaining Rea has built a five second gap on his closest rival. Davies, Guintoli, Sykes and Baz continued to fight for second-place, with Davies making a definitive move during the final laps and putting some distance between himself and the others. Guintoli maintained his position in third until the penultimate lap when Sykes was able to push by. Baz made his move on the Aprilia rider on the final lap for fourth place, dropping Guintoli to fifth just before the checkers.

Melandri was unable to maintain his strong early pace and finished in sixth, followed by Suzuki’s Eugene Laverty in seventh. Laverty’s teammate, Alex Lowes, took eighth ahead of Red Devils Roma’s Toni Elis in ninth and Rea’s teammate, Leon Haslam, in 10th.

Ducati’s Davide Giugliano was in the running for a top-10 result but late in the race lost the front and crashed out of competition. Team Hero EBR’s Aaron Yates retired from the race early on and his teammate, Geoff May, was unable to start after a mechanical issue during warm up.

World Superbike Imola Race 1 Results 2014 
1. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 
2. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 
3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 
4. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) 
5. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) 
6. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) 
7. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) 
8. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) 
9. Toni Elias (Aprilia) 
10. Leon Haslam (Honda) 
11. Leon Camier (BMW) 
12. David Salom (Kawasaki) 
13. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki) 
14. Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 
15. Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki) 
16. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) 
17. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki) 
18. Claudio Corti (MV Agusta) 
19. Peter Sebestyen (BMW) 
20. Imre Toth (BMW) 
DNF Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 
DNF Michel Fabrizio (Kawasaki) 
DNF Aaron Yates (EBR) 
DNF Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 
DNF Ivan Goi (Ducati) 
NS Geoff May (EBR) 

Race 2

Rea got another fantastic start from pole in Race 2, rocketing to the front in the opening turns and leading all the way to the checkers.

“It’s been a great weekend for me,” said Rea. “I couldn’t have imagined doubling up coming here. But I knew we’d be strong because it’s a circuit I really enjoy and one that the bike goes really well at. It’s a shame we have a test tomorrow because I think everybody in the team deserves to go and really enjoy the night and savor this moment but it’s back to work tomorrow! We’ll try to make the bike better and go to Donington hopefully to keep this ball rolling. I’m really enjoying riding right now and I want to thank everyone who’s put the work in.”



The battle for second-place once again raged as Rea made victory an impossibility for the field. Guintoli slotted into the runner-up spot during the initial laps, followed by Giugliano, Melandri and Sykes. The Kawasaki ace dispatched Melandri right away for fourth-place and a few laps later Davies got the better of the Italian as well.

Giugliano challenged Guintoli for a period but mid-way through the race Sykes, Davies and Baz had caught up with the Ducati rider and were pushing hard for third-place. Sykes made the move on Giugliano on Lap 9, and was quickly followed by Davies and Baz as well. Guintoli, meanwhile, was fighting to protect his second-place position but Sykes and the rest were slowly closing in.

Sykes and Davies were locked together and by Lap 15 had caught Guintoli as well. Davies then made the move on Sykes for third and two laps later got past Guintoli for second.

“These have been the best races of the season and undoubtedly my best race weekend so far, in that we’ve been consistently strong since Friday,” said Davies. “It’s great to be on the podium and is the best way to thank Ducati and all of the guys, both in the team and the factory, for all of their hard work.”



Sykes and Baz battled for fourth place and on the final lap Baz moved on the defending world champion for the advantage, leaving Sykes to finish fifth. Giugliano remained upright to the checkers and took sixth.

“This weekend there is no question we missed some of our true performance and we were not quite on the money,” said Sykes. “I do not think we realized that the gap was as big as it proved to be. In each race we had some limitations and unfortunately at this level you cannot ride around them and make a good result. We will learn from this, that is for sure.”

Elias took seventh ahead of Haslam in eighth and Laverty in ninth. Lowes took 10th while Melandri, who struggled throughout the day, finished 11th.

“This was a very disappointing Sunday race day, definitely not up to our expectations which were quite high after such a good start to the weekend,” said Melandri. “Friday and Saturday were positive and it seemed like we were on the right track. This means that we still have a lot of work to do. I am quite capable of bringing home very different results, but that's how this sport is at these levels.”

Rea leaves Imola with the championship lead, four points ahead of previous leader, Sykes. Guintoli drops to third overall followed by Baz in fourth and Davies in fifth.

World Superbike Imola Race 2 Results 2014 
1. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 
2. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 
3. Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia) 
4. Loris Baz (Kawasaki) 
5. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 
6. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 
7. Toni Elias (Aprilia) 
8. Leon Haslam (Honda) 
9. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) 
10. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) 
11. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) 
12. Leon Camier (BMW) 
13. David Salom (Kawasaki) 
14. Luca Scassa (Kawasaki) 
15. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) 
16. Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki) 
17. Alessandro Andreozzi (Kawasaki) 
18. Geoff May (EBR) 
19. Imre Toth (BMW) 
DNF Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 
DNF Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki) 
DNF Michel Fabrizio (Kawasaki) 
DNF Peter Sebestyen (BMW) 
DNF Aaron Yates (EBR) 
DNF Claudio Corti (MV Agusta) 
DNF Ivan Goi (Ducati)

World Superbike Championship Points 2014 
1. Jonathan Rea, 139 
2. Tom Sykes, 135 
3. Sylvain Guintoli, 123 
4. Loris Baz, 119 
5. Chaz Davies, 87 
6. Marco Melandri, 84 
7. Davide Giugliano, 69 
8. Eugene Laverty, 62 
9. Leon Haslam, 58 
10. Alex Lowes, 50
 
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