Imola WSBK: Davies takes pole as Guintoli suffers huge crash

Davies, who had been quickest in all three free practices, led the way after his first flyer in Superpole 2.

However, he couldn't follow that up with another lap because of a red flag, which was brought out by Guintoli.

The Frenchman lost the rear of his bike in a highside crash and flew several metres in the air, eventually suffering a harsh landing onto the track surface.

Guintoli then couldn't get back up by himself and was taken to the medical centre for check-ups.

On the restart, Davies led by 0.45s after his first and only effort, beating Davide Giugliano, who made it a Ducati 1-2.

Reigning champion Jonathan Rea edged out Kawasaki teammate Tom Sykes by just 0.003s during the final stages of the session for the last spot on the front row, with rookie Lorenzo Savadori going fifth-fastest.

The trio of Jordi Torres, Leon Camier and Markus Reiterberger were separated by less than a tenth between sixth and eighth.

The Hondas of Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark had a quiet session, having to fight through SP1 before taking ninth and 11th on the grid, the American just beating Matteo Baiocco.

Superpole 2 Results:

Pos	Rider	Team	Bike	Time
1	Chaz Davies	Ducati Team	Ducati 1199 Panigale R	1:45.598
2	Davide Giugliano	Ducati Team	Ducati 1199 Panigale R	1:46.055
3	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:46.328
4	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki Racing	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:46.331
5	Lorenzo Savadori	Ioda Racing Project	Aprilia RSV4 RF	1:46.531
6	Jordi Torres	Althea BMW Racing Team	BMW S1000 RR	1:46.867
7	Leon Camier	MV Agusta	MV Agusta 1000 F4	1:46.911
8	Markus Reiterberger	Althea BMW Racing Team	BMW S1000 RR	1:46.952
9	Nicky Hayden	Honda World Superbike Team	Honda CBR1000RR SP	1:47.429
10	Matteo Baiocco	VFT Racing	Ducati 1199 Panigale R	1:47.471
11	Michael van der Mark	Honda World Superbike Team	Honda CBR1000RR SP	1:47.563
12	Sylvain Guintoli	Pata Yamaha Official WSBK Team	Yamaha YZF-R1	1:48.677