91Èȱ¬

Jonathan Rea has dropped to fourth in the World Superbike championship standings after taking fifth and sixth place finishes at the Misano round.

The Pata Honda rider, from Ballyclare in Northern Ireland, was sixth in race one but improved by one position in race two at the Italian circuit.

Eugene Laverty was ninth in the first race and seventh in the second despite suffering from a fractured foot.

Reigning champion Tom Sykes won both races to extend his lead in the series.

Sykes's Kawasaki team-mate Loris Baz was second in both events, with Marco Melandri third on both occasions.

Rea finished 21.162 seconds behind the winner in the first outing and ended 18.975 seconds adrift in race two.

Sykes heads the championship on 251 points, followed by Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli on 212, Baz on 210 and Rea fourth on 199.

Rea had led the series going into the previous round at Malaysia but has struggled to achieve consistent results this season.

Crescent Suzuki rider Laverty overcame adversity to take his seventh spot in race two.

"In race one, a few laps in at turn five while I was pushing on the footrest I felt something snap inside my foot.

"There was a lot of pain and I struggled to ride for the next five laps but I didn't want to pull in so I just adjusted my foot and for the last five or six laps I was able to ride again and start pushing.

"For the second race I sought medical attention which allowed me to ride in a different way - I had to keep my foot in a strange position on the footrest but at least that allowed me to fight and race, because I thought I wouldn't be able to race again.

"It's unfortunate because I thought the foot was coming ok; it's ok to walk, but to ride the bike the break is exactly at the point I need to push on the footrest and I think I've done more damage now than originally," said Laverty.

The next round will be staged at Portimao in Portugal on 6 July.