World Superbikes: Davies wins but champion Rea extends lead

Jonathan Rea had to settle for second again behind Chaz Davies

Ducati rider Chaz Davies from Wales beat world champion Jonathan Rea for a second time in two days to complete a superb WSB double at Imola.

Sunday's win takes 30-year-old Davies into second place in the championship, behind Northern Ireland's Rea, who has extended his lead to 74 points.

Rea's Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes of England finished in third place.

The race had to be restarted because of oil on the course after the engine blew on Ayrton Badovini's machine.

The red flag worked out well for Davies as he had been back in 11th at the end of the first lap - just before racing was halted.

On the restart, Rea quickly made up five places from his starting position, but then a mistake saw him slip back to sixth.

Rea, aiming to become the first man to win three WSB titles in a row, battled back and passed Sykes to go second with seven laps to go.

But he was unable to challenge a dominant Davies who secured the 23rd win of his World Superbikes career.

"The restart worked in my favour. Jonathan made a couple of mistakes while I managed to stay clean," said Davies.

Rea said the error involving with brake lever had "messed up" his race.

"But I am happy to come away with 40 points from what has not been one of the best tracks for us," said the champion.

"Chaz did not put a foot wrong all weekend."

Northern Irish rider Eugene Laverty finished seventh a day after walking away from a high-speed crash.