Heading into the Italian round of 2018 World Superbike at Imola, three-time World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea only had three wins – one each in Thailand, Aragon and Assen.Impressive, yes, but very un-Rea like due to not scoring a double win at any round so far. That changed this past weekend for round five of 13 at Imola, the Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10RR pilot claiming his first double of the WSBK season.Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea and Ducati’s Chaz Davies
Rea’s double – earned from the pole position – also allowed him to equal the all-time record of 59 career race wins, a record he now shares with Carl Fogarty. This means he can become the leader in most career wins next weekend at his home race in Donington. The next closest rider Troy Bayliss with 52, and Noriyuki Haga with 43.Joining Rea on the race-one podium Saturday were teammate Tom Sykes and Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Marco Melandri. Sunday’s race-two podium was all British; Rea claimed the win ahead of Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Chaz Davies and Sykes.“We got it done and it was probably the best race win of the season,” Jonathan Rea said after Sunday’s race. “Coming from ninth on the grid, it was so difficult. I was not so confident I could win today. It was really nice to equal the record total of race wins, and with a long season left I feel confident that I can extend my win tally, and that is super-nice.”In warm and sticky conditions Rea started the first 19-lap race of the WorldSBK race weekend from pole position, having secured his 16th career Superpole just a couple of hours before the start of race one.Jonathan led from flag-to-flag with only his own team-mate Sykes for company in the first few laps, before Rea’s pace took him to an eventual margin of victory of 3.755 seconds. His latest win was his fourth of the season, all of them coming at different circuits.Kawasaki’s Tom SykesIn race two, starting from ninth, and not getting away as cleanly as Sykes, Rea had to put in several passes before getting into the slipstream of early leader Davies.Rea was in second place after four laps, and sat behind Davies for much of the race before deciding to make a final pass into the Variante Alta, on lap 13. Rea put in two fast laps with clear track ahead of him and eventually won by a margin of 4.019 seconds.Rea has now won half for the races in 2018, but this is the first time has been able to win the second race of any weekend, rather than the first.In the championship standings, after five of 13 rounds, Rea has 209 points, 47 ahead of Davies. Sykes is in third with 137 points.The WorldSBK series now breaks for two weeks ahead of Rea’s home race at Donington Park.
2018 Imola World Superbike Results, Race 1
Pos.
Rider
Manufacturer
Nationality
Time
1
Jonathan Rea
Kawasaki
GBR
33’58.989
2
Tom Sykes
Kawasaki
GBR
00’03.755
3
Marco Melandri
Ducati
ITA
00’06.906
4
Chaz Davies
Ducati
GBR
00’08.191
5
Xavi Fores
Ducati
ESP
00’15.550
6
Michael van der Mark
Yamaha
NLD
00’00.000
7
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Ducati
ITA
00’22.522
8
Lorenzo Savadori
Aprilia
ITA
00’25.772
9
Leon Haslam
Kawasaki
GBR
00’30.269
10
Alex Lowes
Yamaha
GBR
00’30.377
11
Toprak Razgatlioglu
Kawasaki
TUR
00’30.660
12
Eugene Laverty
Aprilia
GBR
00’34.188
13
Loris Baz
BMW
FRA
00’36.494
14
Jordi Torres
MV Agusta
ESP
00’36.671
15
Leandro Mercado
Aprilia
ARG
00’38.041
2018 Imola World Superbike Results, Race 2
Pos.
Rider
Manufacturer
Nationality
Time
1
Jonathan Rea
Kawasaki
GBR
34’03.420
2
Chaz Davies
Ducati
GBR
00’04.019
3
Tom Sykes
Kawasaki
GBR
00’09.530
4
Xavi Fores
Ducati
ESP
00’14.159
5
Jordi Torres
MV Agusta
ESP
00’15.479
6
Alex Lowes
Yamaha
GBR
00’16.162
7
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Ducati
ITA
00’17.197
8
Toprak Razgatlioglu
Kawasaki
TUR
00’17.554
9
Eugene Laverty
Aprilia
GBR
00’22.331
10
Leandro Mercado
Aprilia
ARG
00’30.176
11
Loris Baz
BMW
FRA
00’30.267
12
Román Ramos
Kawasaki
ESP
00’40.061
13
Yonny Hernandez
Kawasaki
COL
00’51.973
14
Patrick Jacobsen
Honda
USA
00’55.268
15
Ondrej Jezek
Kawasaki
CZE
01’09.455
World Superbike Point Standings (after five of 13 rounds)