Cal Crutchlow has extended his lead in the World Superbike Championship standings after easing to a commanding victory in the fifth round of the season at Monza.

The British rider recovered from a tardy start to embark on an enjoyable tussle with Fabien Foret and Eugene Laverty for the majority of the race.

However, a series of quick laps towards the end saw him break the slipstream and ease to victory, his second at World Supersport level following his maiden triumph at Valencia.

Winning by more than two seconds, the victory sees Crutchlow extend his advantage in the overall standings to 18 points over Laverty.

After losing touch with Crutchlow, Assen winner Laverty was reeled into a fight for the remaining podium position with Foret and Joan Lascorz, who put on a superb charge in the final stages to catch and pass both riders.

Winning the dash for the finish line, Lascorz would grab a second place finish for the Provec Kawasaki team, while Foret resisted Laverty to get on the podium for the first time since winning at Monza last season.

Laverty had to make do with fourth, the first time Honda has finished off the WSS podium since the penultimate round of the 2005 season.

Andrew Pitt finished a quite fifth after resisting the attentions of Katsuaki Fujiwara, while Michele Pirro and Garry McCoy, Kenan Sofuoglu and Gianluca Nannelli completed the top ten.

Elsewhere, there was big disappointment for Althea Honda after both Mark Aitchison and Matthieu Lagrive crashed out of good positions, while a last lap accident for Massimo Roccoli also denied him a top ten finish.