Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) rode to a superb victory in race one at Imola in front of 78,000 sun-kissed fans before he had to endure the disappointment of having to retire from a winning position in race two, when his machine’s battery connector broke and started switching his machine off and on. Championship leader Carlos Checa (Ducati) won race two and only missed out on clinching the championship by three points, with two rounds left to run.

Rea’s race one win came at the first time of asking for his Honda CBR1000RR’s new ride-by-wire throttle system, which Rea had used to such great effect from day one at a largely resurfaced and consistently warm and dry Imola. Starting from second place on the grid in each 21-lap race, Rea (who had headed up the timesheets on day one) had to ride hard to hold off the advancing Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) in race one, with Checa nine seconds behind.

This was Jonathan’s second win of the season, which has been beset by frequent and painful injury for a time, and he moved back up to 11th in the overall rankings, despite his race two DNF.

Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda) missed out on Superpole qualifying and thus had much hard work to do in the two races, fighting in the pack and finishing race one 17th and an improved 11th in race two. Starting from 20th place on the grid, he took five points in the second leg today and is 16th overall.

Foret Wins From Lowes On Day Of Championship Drama

Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) got himself back into the championship fight at Imola with a gutsy ride through the field that was eventually rewarded with his first win of the year, and a return to second place in the championship.

In front of a large weekend crowd at the classic Imola circuit he was followed home at close quarters by Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda), who was only 0.166 seconds behind after 19 intense laps. Foret took a new lap record of 1m, 52.059s, on lap 11, when he had clear track in front of him. Even more importantly he is now a reduced 35 points behind championship leader Chaz Davies (Yamaha), with a possible 50 points up for grabs at the final two rounds. Davies led the race all the way, but his machine failed on lap 15, when Foret was still in fourth place.

Lowes took the lead when Davies retired, but he could not hold back the remarkable pace of Foret, although he continued to try and pass the French rider even at the final chicane. Lowes is fifth in the championship standings, 11 points from fourth, with two points scoring rounds remaining.

Third place at Imola went to Broc Parkes (Kawasaki), but young Frenchman Florian Marino (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) posted a great result to take fourth, his best career performance so far. It brought him back into the top eight places overall, after holding second for much of the race.

James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda) overcame some challenging periods in qualifying to go from 15th on the grid to sixth, although he was unable to fight for the podium place of second he had earned at the previous round in Germany.

Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) was another finding his feet on raceday, coming back from 19th on the grid to an equal best of eighth in the race, his third eighth place this year. He is 13th overall, one place behind the luckless Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing Honda) who once more scored no points after such a strong early season run of form.

Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda) was a faller on the very last lap, dropping from a podium finish to an eventual 11th, having picked up his bike and restarted. Having lost time in qualifying after a crash early on Friday, Rea was ninth off the grid and is now also ninth in the championship standings.

Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka PTR Honda) was 12th and one of six Honda riders who filled 11th to 16th places.

Balazs Nemeth (Team Hungary Toth Honda) and Alexander Lundh (Cresto Guide Honda) no scored today but Imre Toth (Team Hungary Toth Honda) took the last point on offer, in 15th place.

No fewer than 11 riders failed to finish, including Championship leader Davies, who now has 171 points to Foret’s 136. Two rounds remain, the next at Magny Cours next weekend, with race day on Sunday October 2.