Chaz Davies made an immediate impression on his World Supersport debut with a marvellous run to fourth position at Imola.

Davies, who has been racing in the United States since 2007, was signed as the replacement for Gianluca Nannelli at the BE1 Triumph team ahead of Imola, the Welshman facing a series of challenges - including the unknown circuit, bike and tyres.

Qualifying on the third row in eleventh position, Davies didn't get away so well, but would nonetheless proceed to work his way back through the order to a competitive seventh when the red flag was deployed due to Joan Lascorz's Kawasaki expiring across the circuit.

Resuming in sixth – thanks to Lascorz's elimination - Davies got away better to run with the leaders early on, as the former MotoGP rider worked his way back into contention on the aggregate timesheet.

Despite crossing the line in fifth place, a remarkable last lap effort from Davies saw him vault two positions from sixth to fourth overall and record one of the manufacturer's best ever results at this level.

"I'm very happy with the result,” said Chaz. “I improved a lot this weekend and I wish to thank the entire team for a great job done. However, my goal is to do even better but for this to happen, I'll have to do well in practice and at the start too.

"After two years in the U.S., it's really hard to wait for the light to get green but it's nice too. I can't wait to get back on the track at Magny-Cours in four-days time.”

A strong day all round for the Italian-run team, Davies' team-mate Garry McCoy followed in fifth, but only after battling an injured hand during the restarted race having crashed heavily on Lascorz's expelled oil.

"It was a very difficult race and I really had to give 110%. In the first section, everything went well and I was battling with Foret for the podium. Unfortunately, I crashed on the oil leak from Lascorz' bike just before the red flag was displayed.

“I injured myself very badly and it hurt a lot but fortunately I was rushed to the mobile clinic where they assisted me in no time. It was an ordeal when I had to brake but I grit my teeth and scored an important result result which allowed me to climb to eighth place in the standings.”