Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea has completed the double, extending his championship lead at round eight of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship at Misano, Italy.

WorldSBK Race One: Toil And Trouble In The Opening Lap At Misano, Before Rea Reigns Again     

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea has taken his first victory since Assen in a classic game of cat and mouse at Misano World Circuit, holding off intense pressure from teammate Tom Sykes throughout WorldSBK race one to cross the line for another win in 2016 – ending his longest drought before moving to Kawasaki. Honda’s Michael van der Mark, after a storming start, completed the podium in third after a difficult Superpole 2.

A drama filled first part of lap one saw Lorenzo Savadori fall foul of a tussle just behind the front few bikes, with the Aprilia sliding off into the gravel and sadly seeing the Italian rookie unable to finish his first WorldSBK race in Misano. Chaz Davies was pushed down outside the top ten as Torres, Camier and Savadori got caught up in chaos, and the biggest winners off the line were undoubtedly Honda’s Michael van der Mark and Pedercini’s Anthony West, with the Australian moving well into the top ten. Van der Mark, who pulled through the field with a stunning launch and first lap to cross the line at the end of lap one in fifth, then saw Ducati rider Davide Giugliano lowside off the track in front of him, before Honda teammate Nicky Hayden suffered a spectacular trip through the gravel at the final corner.

Davies and Aruba.it teammate Giugliano faced an uphill battle through the field, with the Italian eventually coming home in 14th. Head down and focused, Davies fought back into the top five by lap 11, on course for a good haul of points after a disastrous start.  Davies hunted down Jordi Torres to end race one just off the podium in fourth.

Torres ended Althea BMW’s Race 1 in fifth for the team at home, just ahead of Althea teammate Markus Reiterberger,  crossed the line in sixth in another good rookie showing, competing a fantastic first race of the home round for the Althea BMW team.

Pata Yamaha’s Niccolo Canepa, riding in place of recovering Sylvain Guintoli, crossed the line in seventh at his and Pata’s home race in an impressive showing, ahead of MV Agusta rider Leon Camier, who after getting tangled up at the start rode a solid recovery for the MV.

Roman Ramos put in an impressive performance to take ninth for Team GoEleven, ahead of Anthony West on the Pedercini Kawasaki who rounded out the top ten. Milwaukee BMW’s Josh Brookes crossed the line in 11th in a solid performance, ahead of Aprilia’s Alex De Angelis at his closest circuit to home. The second Pata Yamaha machine of Alex Lowes crossed the line in 13th after the Brit suffered a run off early on, an impressive showing nonetheless as the former British champion recovers from a broken collarbone, with Giugliano in 14th ahead of Pawel Szkopek competing the points in 15th.

WorldSBK Race 1 Results: 1. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki  2. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki  3. Michael Van der Mark – Honda

Australians: 10. Anthony West – Kawasaki  11. Josh Brookes – BMW  

WorldSBK Race Two: Rea Extends Championship Lead After An Incredible Show Of Pace And Precision 

Kawasaki Racing Team rider Jonathan Rea has completed a double at Misano World Circuit, stalking teammate Tom Sykes until pulling away with five laps to go and crossing the line with a three second margin in an impressive display from the reigning World Champion. Davide Giugliano made amends for a home crash in race one to complete the podium for Aruba.it Racing – Ducati.

Sunday dawned in Misano with blue skies despite the threat of rain, and the weather held off for another incredible race on the Riviera di Rimini. Rea got the jump on Sykes off the line as Yamaha’s Alex Lowes tried to muscle through on the inside of the Yorkshireman, before Sykes swooped around the outside to take back P1 and the KRT duo started to pull a gap on those behind.

An early, spectacular incident saw Althea BMW rider Markus Reiterberger highside out of the race on the first lap in a midfield tussle at turn eight, with the German walking away from the incident unaided. A further fall on lap three, this time a lowside for Chaz Davies, then interrupted the midfield rhythm again as Honda rider Michael van der Mark was forced to shut off the gas to try and avoid the fallen Ducati, making contact enough to cause the Dutchman to fall before both were able to get back on their bikes. Van der Mark then faced a fight back through the field, as Davies was forced to pull into the pits. The Dutchman put his head down and pulled back the deficit to the points, then focusing on the top ten and crossing the line in tenth.

Davide Giugliano, after having suffered a similar crash in race one to that of his teammate in race two, began to pull away from Barni Racing’s Xavi Forés in a bid to add another podium finish to his tally in 2016, keeping a healthy gap to the Panigale R behind to cross the line in third for some home glory. Forés followed the Italian home in fourth in an impressive ride, ahead Lorenzo Savadori for IodaRacing.

Savadori, who has won the last two ST1000 races at Misano, was able to show the potential of his Aprilia after having his race one cut short, coming home in fifth for another impressive rookie result, and a great haul of points at the home Round of rider, team and manufacturer. Althea BMW rider Jordi Torres had a solid ride into seventh in the tightly packed mid-field, just losing out to Honda rider Nicky Hayden as the American took the Spaniard with two laps to go.

Alex Lowes came home in eighth for Pata Yamaha at Pata’s home Round despite still suffering the after-effects of his broken collarbone in Sepang, ahead of stand-in teammate Niccolo Canepa, who collected another impressive top ten in ninth, ahead of charging van der Mark.

MV Agusta Reparto Corse rider Leon Camier, after an interrupted Race 1 followed by an incredible comeback, was sadly unable to finish Race 2 at the team’s home Round after a technical problem caused his retirement on lap 13. Anthony West got more points for Pedercini in 11th, ahead of Roman Ramos for GoEleven in 12th and San Marinese rider Alex De Angelis in 13th. Milwaukee BMW pairing Josh Brookes and Karel Abraham completed the points positions in 14th and 15th respectively.

The next Round of WorldSBK will take place at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in California, from the 8th-10th July as the paddock prepares to attack the corkscrew.

WorldSBK Race 2 Results: 1. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki  2. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki  3. Davide Guigliano – Ducati

Australians: 11. Anthony West – Kawasaki  14. Josh Brookes – BMW  

Championship Standings After Round Eight

1. Jonathan Rea – 343 points (Kawasaki)  2. Tom Sykes – 277 points (Kawasaki)  3. Chaz Davies – 244 points (Ducati)  

World Supersport: Sofuoglu Takes The Honours 

Reigning Champion Kenan Sofuoglu has taken another impressive win in 2016 at Misano, crossing the line ahead of Bardahl Evans Bros. Pole sitter Caricasulo took his second podium in his rookie year with the finish, just beating PJ Jacobsen to P2 despite the American having led for much of the Race.

Caricasulo, the Italian rookie got away in the lead from pole position for the first time in WorldSSP ahead of fellow front row starters Sofuoglu and Jacobsen. With a clean start then interrupted by a small incident later in lap 1 as Alessandro Zaccone began a chain reaction that saw MV Agusta Reparto Corse rider Jules Cluzel bumped out of the top ten as the Frenchman was forced to sit up, Zaccone got ahead of Randy Krummenacher in the early stages to circulate in P4 as the fastest rider in the FIM Europe Supersport Cup by some margin.

Just under half way through the Race saw Jacobsen take the lead for the first time, with the American pulling out a small margin on Caricasulo as the two started to gap reigning Champion Sofuoglu in P3. Lap 9 saw the winner in the last two WorldSSP Races at Misano – Jules Cluzel – tumble at Turn 6 and lose the chance of taking a third straight victory on the Adriatic as he fought to move back up the board after the Lap 1 incident.

With Sofuoglu behind Caricasulo, the Italian rookie wasn’t giving up, passing the reigning Champion back and holding him behind for a number of laps before then running slightly wide with 4 laps to go and allowing the Turk past to try and chase down Jacobsen for the victory. Sofuoglu eventually pulled clear of both the American and Caricasulo to take a stunning win at a track that traditionally hasn’t favoured the reigning Champion.

Alessandro Zaccone, after a quick but aggressive start, then started to fall through the order before eventually being forced to pull into the pits with a technical problem. GRT Racing Team rider Gino Rea moved his way through the field to cross the line in an impressive P4 as fastest MV Agsuta, ahead of Randy Krummenacher who completed the top 5 after a difficult day at the office for the title contender.

WorldSSP will now head into the summer ahead of their next time on track at Lausitzring in Germany, as the intermediate class don’t travel to Laguna Seca for Round 9. 

WorldSSP Results: 1. Kenan Sofuoglu – Kawasaki  2. Federico Caricasulo – Honda  3. PJ Jacobsen – Honda  

Australians: 15. Aiden Wagner – MV Agusta  25. Lachlan Epis – Kawasaki

{gallery}gallery/WorldSBK_2016/Rd8_Misano{/gallery}