Chaz Davies gets better of Jonathan Rea in practice

Chaz Davies was the quickest in the final two practice sessions of the fifth round of the World Superbike Championship in Italy.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider finished the opening run at Imola in second place behind Jonathan Rea, before edging clear of the championship leader in sessions two and three.

Kawasaki Racing Team's Rea picked up where he left off in Assen in the opening free practice session, topping the times ahead of Davies and third-placed Tom Sykes, who finished on identical lap times.

Welshman Davies then stormed clear of title rival Rea in the second session. He finished almost half a second ahead of the Northern Irishman with a best lap of 1m 46.229s, as Sykes again came third.

Davies maintained his advantage over Rea in FP3, which was interrupted by a red flag after Stefan Bradl crashed at turn 10, causing debris to slide on to the track.

The 30-year-old recorded a best lap of 1m 46.158s, with Rea and Sykes again completing the top three, ahead of home favourite Marco Melandri.