Chaz Davies made an impressive start to his World Superbikes weekend in Italy to dominate opening practice at Imola.

The Knighton-born flier was quickest in both practice sessions to the delight of the home fans on his Ducati bike.

Davies is looking for a win to cut into Kawasaki rival Jonathan Rea’s 45 point lead over him in the standings.

And Davies left both Kawasaki riders trailing in his wake with Tom Sykes ending up second fastest almost a third-of-a-second adrift.

The 29-year-old showed impressive race pace which should stand him in good stead for Saturday’s opening race with race two on Sunday.

Davies clocked 1m 47.014s to see off Sykes with Rea another tenth-of-a-second back in third spot.