Jonathan Rea claimed his first pole position since October 2011 and just the fourth of his World Superbike career after topping the times in Superpole at Imola. The Briton followed up his strong practice form with a blistering lap in SP2, giving him the perfect opportunity to pick up where he left off at Assen.
Rea’s 1:46.289 saw him beat Sylvain Guintoli and Davide Giugliano by a quarter of a second and the PATA Honda rider expects to be similarly competitive tomorrow.
“Honestly, I didn’t really expect that! I knew we had really good pace and we were working towards the race tomorrow. But this pole position lark doesn’t really have my name on it so I’m really happy. The lap was really good but I just want to thank all the guys in my box who’ve been working incredibly hard. They’re making the CBR better and better and to do it in Pata’s back yard here in Italy is just great. I’m looking forward to two strong races tomorrow and hopefully we can get some good results then.”
Guintoli and Giugliano will complete the front row with Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri just behind their teammates in fourth and fifth respectively. Tom Sykes had a poor afternoon by his high standards in sixth with Loris Baz seventh on the second factory Kawasaki. Eugene Laverty starts ninth ahead of EVO class leader Niccolo Canepa with Leon Haslam tenth after failing to hit the same heights as his teammate.
| 2014 eni SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 4 – IMOLA | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TISSOT SUPERPOLE RESULT | ||||
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 |  JONATHAN REA |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:46.289 |
| 2 |  SYLVAIN GUINTOLI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:46.554 |
| 3 |  DAVIDE GIUGLIANO |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:46.555 |
| 4 | CHAZ DAVIES |
DUCATI | DUCATI SUPERBIKE TEAM | 1:46.678 |
| 5 | MARCO MELANDRI |
APRILIA | APRILIA RACING TEAM | 1:46.740 |
| 6 | TOM SYKES |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:46.767 |
| 7 | LORIS BAZ |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:47.014 |
| 8 |  EUGENE LAVERTY |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | 1:47.715 |
| 9 | NICCOLO CANEPA |
DUCATI | ALTHEA RACING | 1:48.240 |
| 10 | LEON HASLAM |
HONDA | PATA HONDA WORLD SUPERBIKE | 1:48.242 |
| 11 | LEON CAMIER |
BMW | BMW MOTORRAD ITALIA SBK | 1:48.371 |
| 12 | ALEX LOWES |
SUZUKI | VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI | NO TIME |
| ELIMINATED IN SUPERPOLE 1 | ||||
| 13 | IVAN GOI |
DUCATI | BARNI RACING TEAM | 1:48.632 |
| 14 |  DAVID SALOM |
KAWASAKI | KAWASAKI RACING TEAM | 1:48.743 |
| 15 | TONI ELIAS |
APRILIA | RED DEVILS ROMA | 1:48.882 |
| 16 | AYRTON BADOVINI |
BIMOTA | TEAM ALSTARE | 1:48.909 |
| 17 | LUCA SCASSA |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:49.732 |
| 18 |  SHERIDAN MORAIS |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:49.781 |
| 19 | CHRISTIAN IDDON |
BIMOTA | TEAM ALSTARE | 1:49.997 |
| 20 | MICHEL FABRIZIO |
KAWASAKI | IRON BRAIN KAWASAKI SBK | 1:50.936 |
| FAILED TO QUALIFY FOR SUPERPOLE 1 | ||||
| 21 | CLAUDIO CORTI |
MV AGUSTA | MV AGUSTA RC-YAKHNICH MOTORSPORT | 1:50.741 |
| 22 | FABIEN FORET |
KAWASAKI | MAHI RACING TEAM INDIA | 1:50.781 |
| 23 | ALESSANDRO ANDREOZZI |
KAWASAKI | TEAM PEDERCINI | 1:50.959 |
| 24 | JEREMY GUARNONI |
KAWASAKI | MRS KAWASAKI | 1:51.048 |
| 25 |  IMRE TOTH |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:52.325 |
| 26 |  GEOFF MAY |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:52.763 |
| 27 | AARON YATES |
EBR | TEAM HERO EBR | 1:52.831 |
| 28 | PETER SEBESTYEN |
BMW | BMW TEAM TOTH | 1:53.555 |
