Davies secures pole in Italy

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider recorded a best lap time of 1m 45.662s to put him ahead of second-placed Tom Sykes and championship leader Jonathan Rea, who finished third.

It is the second time this season that Welshman Davies will start at the head of the grid and the second successive year he has secured pole at Imola.

He won both races at the circuit in 2016 and will hope to hold off the challenges of title rivals Sykes and Rea this year after they finished +0.032s and +0.324s off the pace.

Northern Irishman Rea managed to stay clear of the chasing pack, while MV Agusta enjoyed its most productive qualifying session of the season with Leon Camier securing fourth on the grid, ahead of home favourite Marco Melandri.

Eugene Laverty completes row two, with Xavi Fores heading up row three on the Barni Ducati in front of Leandro Mercado and Michael van der Mark.