Imola - The fifth event of the World Superbike season takes the series to Imola for the Italian round this Sunday.
Current series leader Jonathan Rea has collected a massive 95% of the maximum championship points on offer so far this season, and few would bet against the Kawasaki rider.
There could be a lot for the Italians to shout about this weekend. Aprilia’s leading representative in the standings is Leon Haslam, who is the closest challenger to Rea and took a victory in Australia, while his rookie team-mate Jordi Torres is yet to finish lower than in sixth position this year.
Davide Giugliano finally returns, having been ruled out of action when he injured his back in a pre-season testing crash at Phillip Island. Since then, his Ducati team has returned to winning ways with Chaz Davies, who is third in the standings.
Behind the championship top three of Rea, Haslam and Davies, 2013 title winner Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) is looking to get his championship fight back on track, having struggled with a major lack of rear-end traction last time out at Assen.
Such struggles were not a problem for Honda’s Michael van der Mark, who at Assen made history by becoming the first Dutchman to clinch a World Superbike podium finish; he immediately doubled the tally by clinching another podium in Race 2. He now sits just five points in arrears of world champion team-mate Sylvain Guintoli.
RIDER STANDINGS
1 - Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki - 190
2 - Leon Haslam, Aprilia - 140
3 - Chaz Davies, Ducati - 123
4 - Tom Sykes, Kawasaki - 88
5 - Jordi Torres, Aprilia - 83