Davies won both Imola races in 2016 and he will aim to repeat that feat this weekend starting on Saturday afternoon ahead of his rivals, after Sykes lapped just +0.032s behind the Welshman in second and Rea qualified third, being +0.324s off the pole pace.

Another British rider Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was provisionally in second place before the pace increased right at the end of the session, but at his team’s home race he will be pleased to have qualified fourth.

Also on the second row at the Motul Italian Round, lining up behind Camier, are top Italian qualifier Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in fifth and Irishman Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) in sixth place.

Row three will feature three additional nationalities, as Spaniard Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team), Argentina’s Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) and Dutchman Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) line up seventh to ninth respectively.

With an ambient temperature of 22°C and the track temperature reaching 34°C in the SP2 run, it was Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia), Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) who qualified on row four.

Earlier in the morning Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) sat out the Tissot Superpole 1 session, not registering a lap time due to feeling unwell.

In that SP1 session Bradl led the way with a 1'48.460 laptime, with Savadori also making it through to SP2 alongside the German rider with a late 1'48.572 time.

Race 1 for the WorldSBK riders at Imola takes place at 1pm local time on Saturday afternoon.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) took a clear victory in Race 1 at the Acerbis Dutch Round on Saturday, after a long battle with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) ended in a frustrating DNF for the Welshman who pulled up at the end of the penultimate lap. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) crossed the line in second place, ahead of Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) who completed the rostrum places.

Rea had started in fourth place on the grid, having initially been on pole but being moved back three places to the head of row two due to a penalty, following a clash with Davies at the end of SP2.

Davies then went on to lead for most of the race before Rea took over in the final stages and then the Ducati rider pulled off track due to a technical issue just before the start of the final lap.

Davies’ misfortune saw Sykes take a lonely second, the Yorkshireman crossing the finish line 4.5s behind Rea and 13 seconds in front of third placed Melandri. It was a good performance by Sykes considering his recent issues with a stomach illness.

Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) produced another solid result in fourth place on his Ducati Panigale R, his highest finish so far in 2017. An excellent ride by Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) to fifth on his return to action also gave him his best result of the season to date.

There were also season-best results for Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) and Roman Ramos (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven) in sixth and seventh respectively.

Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) and Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) completed the top ten.

There was frustration for Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) who ran long on the first corner and then crashed out of his home race at turn 5 early on. That was before his teammate Alex Lowes went down at turn 10 midrace to make it a difficult day for Yamaha.

Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) and Riccardo Russo (Guandalini Racing) were both unable to finish due to technical problems.

World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) set a superb pole time at the Acerbis Dutch Round in Superpole 2 - with a rapid 1’33.505 lap of the TT Assen Circuit – initially putting him ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) on the front row. But a penalty for Rea due to a late incident with Davies in SP2 saw the KRT man given a three place penalty and moved back to fourth on the grid.

Rea’s time was a new record lap of the Dutch track, breaking the previous record set by Loris Baz in 2014 by a huge 0.852s margin. However, after Rea was adjudged to have impeded Davies in the final seconds of SP2 the reigning title holder was moved down the grid as a result.

Sykes also produced a solid lap, going round in 1’33.715 to initially qualify second - despite his recent stomach illness – the lap eventually giving him pole after Rea’s penalty.

Davies was third fastest in the session, registering a time just under a second off Rea’s pole pace. The Welshman angrily gestured at Rea towards the end of the session as the Ducati man felt the KRT rider was impeding his line, with the disagreement continuing in parc ferme afterwards. Davies would ultimately move up to second on the grid.

Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) was fourth quickest but will complete row one, benefitting from Rea’s punishment. Just behind Rea on row two are Italian rider Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Irishman Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), in fifth and sixth.

Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) will head row three, in front of home rider Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) - who qualified eighth and ninth respectively.

Nicky Hayden (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) will all start Race 1 on the fourth row.

Fores and Hayden were the two riders to make it through from SP1, Spaniard Fores topping the timesheet in that session by 0.076s from the American. Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was third in that session, missing out on SP2 by just under a tenth of a second.