The World Superbike title may already be decided, but this weekend's Magny Cours season finale will still settle the fight for second in the championship, the manufacturers' title and the World Supersport crown.
Troy Bayliss completed a dream SBK return by wrapping up his second world title in race one at Imola last Sunday, but for most other riders there is still everything to play for - from the very top to the very bottom of the championship table. Bayliss, who has now scored 11 wins, is head and shoulders over the rest in terms of maximum scores, but no fewer than eight riders have won at least one race in this frequently unpredictable season.
All five major global manufacturers have also scored at least one victory, proving the depth of competition, but Ducati will start Sunday's two races with a dominant, but not yet decisive, 39 point lead over Honda in the manufacturers' standings.
But the fight for second in the riders' championship is much closer, with Winston Ten Kate Honda's
James Toseland - who clinched his world title at Magny Cours in 2004 - holding a slender two-point lead over Yamaha's
Noriyuki Haga - also a previous Magny Cours winner - after beating the Japanese in both races at Imola.
Holding fourth and fifth are Haga's rejuvenated team-mate Andrew Pitt and Klaffi Honda's Alex Barros, both of whom have now become WSBK race winners. Barros - a former 500cc and
MotoGP winner - took his first SBK win in race one at Imola, then backed it up with a close second behind Bayliss in the final outing to close to within eight points of Pitt. However, the Aussie rider is nonetheless on good form, having scored third and fourth in Italy.
2005 Champion
Troy Corser sits sixth after another meeting to forget at Imola, but will be hoping to improvement his 2007 employment opportunities by bouncing back on what could be his last ride with the Alstare Suzuki team. The Australian obut he will be attempting to narrow an eight-point gap to Barros, and possibly the 21-point margin to Pitt.
