Northern Ireland's Jonathan Rea won the first of today's World Superbike Championship races at Imola before Carlos Checa clinched the second to put him on the brink of the title.
Rea (Castrol Honda) has missed most of the season with a wrist injury but led from early on after starting behind Checa and held off a strong challenge from Noriyuki Haga (Pata Racing Aprilia).
Rea then led the second race but was forced to retire with throttle problems, leaving Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) to win ahead of Haga.
Eugene Laverty finished fifth in the first race and followed it up with by concluding in fourth spot in the final event.
Today’s result put Checa in touching distance of the trophy, leading Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) by 97 points with two rounds remaining.
