After a shortened 18-lap WorldSBK race one at Imola Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes placed second and third respectively, only separated by a few tenths of a second as they chased the podium places. Rea now takes a 40-point championship lead into the second race on Sunday, after a tough but rewarding battle around the undulating circuit in Italy. Sykes is a clear third overall approaching Sunday’s scheduled 19-lap race.
                       
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari dished up two podium places for the all-new Ninja ZX-10R in the opening lunchtime WorldSBK race, despite the start being delayed after a collision between two riders on the warm-up lap.

At the start Rea and Sykes formed an early top three with eventual race winner Chaz Davies, with Rea continuing to keep pace just behind Davies as he pushed hard while the race developed.

‘JR’ was forced to drop back after experiencing an electronics issue under braking at times, running wide and off track at turn 7 at one point, but coming back onto the track surface just in front of his chasing team-mate Sykes.

With the two Kawasaki riders in close company for the final few laps, gaining something on each other in some sections and losing in some others, Sykes was just too far back on the final lap to attempt a decisive and safe pass.

Tom ended up just 0.323 seconds behind Jonathan after 18 laps at the intense and demanding 4.936km Imola parkland circuit.

Now the KRT duo have a day to prepare for the second Imola race, which may be held in less favourable weather conditions than the dry first race day. Both riders feel there are areas for improvement in machine set-up as they now aim to take top spot in race two.

Jonathan Rea stated: 

“In the beginning I felt good with Chaz and I managed to close the gap down to him. We have had some issues on the engine brake side and this caused me to run on. It was happening into the fast turn five and it took my confidence a little bit. When I made the mistake the gap changed. I am happy with my race because second is good as Chaz was on a different planet this morning. I was just happy to be there in the race at the beginning. I was the best of the rest today and now I’m happy to look forward to tomorrow, as I am sure we can improve the bike setup. I hear some mixed weather forecasts, and that we could have some rain, so I hope we can be prepared for whatever we get.”

Tom Sykes stated: 

”It is difficult to pass here at Imola because it is a track that does not leave much of a margin for error. The only possibility to pass came in two areas and it would have been difficult to make a clean one. Considering the amount of practice time we lost on Friday we were probably not at a bad level. Consistency-wise the Ninja ZX-10R was good in the race but we just missed a bit of pure lap time, even in Superpole, and that will be our priority for tomorrow. We lost one maybe two seconds in the first laps and you do not close that kind of gap down very easily at this level. If I am able to ride the bike how I like I am sure we can be strong. We will keep working for this and hopefully make some improvements.”


Josh Hook (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) was the only other Kawasaki race finisher in the opening contest at Imola, in 17th place. A crash and subsequent collision with another rider’s machine for Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki) put him out of action for race one as he underwent medical checks. Saeed Al Sulaiti (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) retired in the race. Ramos (Go Eleven Team Kawasaki) was injured in practice yesterday, as was Lucas Mahias (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki), and they did not start.