Superbike, Motul Italian Round, FP2: Chaz Davies finishes with the best time

The home round is always a very heartfelt event at Ducati, and this is demonstrated by the presence of Gigi Dall'Igna in the pits, mainly due to the warmth of the fans and the prestige of overcoming one's opponents on a difficult track like that of Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari of Imola brings with it.
This year, there is a season to straighten out and a championship, which now seems firmly in the hands of Jonathan Rea, to try to reopen.

Chaz Davies' goal is to return to the top, after a difficult weekend at Assen, and to replicate, if possible, the extraordinary double he achieved here last year.
In the second free practice session of the Motul Italian Round, the Welshman from Ducati set the best time, ahead of the Kawasakis of Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes by a good four tenths and around 9 tenths respectively, a sign that the Panigale can compete at high levels here. levels.
The real unknown for the race, if anything, is the pace of the reigning champion who has made the difference so far.
Behind the usual leading trio we find Marco Melandri, but just 5 thousandths behind Sykes, followed by the Panigale of Team Barni Racing driven by Xavi Fores, who suffered another fall in the very early stages of the session.
Yamaha is growing and seems to have taken an important step after the first difficult outings this season and is a candidate as the third force of the championship: Alex Lowes and Michael Van der Mark, by virtue of the sixth and eighth references respectively, enter the second round of Tissot -Superpole scheduled for tomorrow.
Among them is Leon Camier who seems to have found a good feeling with his MV Agusta on this track: hoping that the technical problems provide respite, his could be an interesting weekend.
Excellent performance also for Leandro Mercado, the first Aprilia-branded rider, with the private IodaRacing team preceding another RSV4, that of Eugene Laverty, who suffered a strange fall in the first minutes of the session when he slipped in the grass of one of the escape routes , after cutting a chicane.
Following this accident, red flags were displayed to allow the Race Direction to intervene and remove possible debris on the track.
Upon restarting Laverty curiously suffered practically the same fall, a sign that it was not a pilot error but a fault.

All the riders from eleventh position onwards will have to pass through the first heat of Tissot-Superpole, including Jordi Torres, Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl, and a Lorenzo Savadori who is in great difficulty today.

Tomorrow will be full of events: it starts at 8am with the third free practice session, then continues from 45am with the Tissot-Superpole and closes with the start of Race10 at 30pm.

Below are the times recorded at the end of the second free practice session:
1. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 46.229s
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 46.694s
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 47.125s
4. Marco Melandri ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 47.191s
5. Xavi Fores ESP Barni Ducati 1199R 1m 47.862s
6. Alex Lowes GBR PATA Crescent Yamaha R1 1m 48.089s
7. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta RC F4 RR 1m 48.101s
8. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Yamaha YZF-R1 1m 48.265s *
9. Leandro Mercado ITA IodaRacing Aprilia RSV4 1m 48.284s
10. Eugene Laverty IRE Milwaukee Aprilia RSV4 1m 48.312s
11. Jordi Torres ESP Althea BMW S1000RR 1m 48.334s *
12. Nicky Hayden USA Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR SP2 1m 48.541s *
13. Stefan Bradl GER Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR SP2 1m 48.766s
14. Roman Ramos ESP Team Go Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 48.855s
15. Randy Krummenacher SWI Puccetti Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 49.261s
16. Alex de Angelis SMR Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 49.560s
17. Riccardo Russo ITA Guandalini Yamaha YZF-R1 1m 49.608s
18. Ayrton Badovini ITA Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 49.640s
19. Lorenzo Savadori ITA Milwaukee Aprilia RSV4 1m 49.844s
20. Ondrej Jezek CZE Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 50.016s
21. Raffaele De Rosa ITA Althea BMW S1000RR 1m 50.294s *

*Best time taken from FP1