2018 Imola World Superbike Results

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.

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.

In 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)

Pos.	Rider	Manufacturer	Nationality	Points
1	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki	GBR	209
2	Chaz Davies	Ducati	GBR	162
3	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki	GBR	137
4	Marco Melandri	Ducati	ITA	131
5	Xavi Fores	Ducati	ESP	124
6	Michael van der Mark	Yamaha	NLD	113
7	Alex Lowes	Yamaha	GBR	92
8	Toprak Razgatlioglu	Kawasaki	TUR	58
9	Jordi Torres	MV Agusta	ESP	52
10	Loris Baz	BMW	FRA	52
11	Leon Camier	Honda	GBR	42
12	Román Ramos	Kawasaki	ESP	36
13	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	Ducati	ITA	35
14	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia	ITA	32
15	Leandro Mercado	Aprilia	ARG	31
16	Eugene Laverty	Aprilia	GBR	27
17	Jake Gagne	Honda	USA	17
18	Patrick Jacobsen	Honda	USA	15
19	Yonny Hernandez	Kawasaki	COL	10
20	Davide Giugliano	Aprilia	ITA	8
21	Leon Haslam	Kawasaki	GBR	7
22	Ondrej Jezek	Kawasaki	CZE	3