2019 Imola World Superbike Superpole Race Results: Overnight Rain

The weather turned up to make the Superpole race evenness predictable. Ten laps under a grey sky made tyre choices interesting, with light and dark track areas visible and riders turning up on the grid with wet tyres and setups, swapping to try tyres and whatever setups they could fix on the grid. Leon Camier didn't line up after his crash yesterday and Tom Sykes didn't get to the grid with a warm-up lap, starting from the pit exit.

Chaz Davies led from pole position, ahead of Jonathan Rea, Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam. Michael van der Mark took fifth place from Alex Lowes and Toprak Razgatlioglu joined the top seven with a solid first lap. At the end of the lap, after Rea briefly borrowed first place from Davies for half a corner, Chaz Davies went into the last chicane and tested his brakes for the first time on his hybrid wet/dry setup and the front ploughed a little, making him miss the apex and slide the rear, letting Jonathan Rea through. On the exit to the chicane, Alvaro Bautista took second from him, but he recovered in third place and resumed his race on his teammate's tail. 

At the start of lap two, the leading seven riders broke away from the rest of the race and a lap later, the leading seven became the leading three and a four-way fight for fourth. Jonathan Rea set the fastest lap. A lap later, he set the fastest lap again. On lap four, Michael van der Mark took fourth place from Leon Haslam as Toprak Razgatlioglu took sixth off Alex Lowes. Jonathan Rea set the fastest lap again. 

Six laps in, with Jonathan Rea a second clear from the Ducatis in second and third, Chaz Davies was visibly quicker than Alvaro Bautista, with Bautista's choice of SCX tyre in the mixed conditions looking like the wrong choice. Bautista went wide before the last chicane and Davies didn't miss his chance, passing him easily. Jonathan Rea set the fastest lap again. 

A lap later, Toprak Razgatlioglu, also on the SCX tyre, started losing pace, freeing Michael van der Mark to consolidate his fourth place and giving Alex Lowes the opportunity to take fifth from him. Jonathan Rea set the fastest lap only to have it beaten a second later by Chaz Davies on a charge in second position. 

As Leon Haslam passed Toprak Razgatlioglu, the front three all had insurmountable gaps and settled into their finishing podium spots for the remaining laps. Jonathan Rea, after having to convince himself that the drops of rain on his visor weren't real, won ahead of Chaz Davies and Alvaro Bautista with fourth-placed Michael van der Mark almost four seconds clear of Alex Lowes and Leon Haslam. Six seconds behind, Toprak Razgatlioglu was caught by Tom Sykes and Jordi Torres, but in spite of a charge to the line, they couldn't pass him.

Jonathan Rea's ten-lap victory ahead of Chaz Davies closed the gap to Alvaro Bautista by five points to forty three and put him on pole position for race two later today.

Results: