Noriyuki Haga riding for Yamaha Motor Italia has not got off to the best start he could have imagined in 2007, but at Donington he has proved to be a winner in the past, and a double winner for Yamaha to boot, in 1998. His team-mate
Troy Corser has also scored a double win at Donington, in 1996, when he rode for Ducati. Haga is fourth so far, with Corser fifth. Other Yamaha riders to look out for at Donington include Donington rookie Shinichi Nakatomi for Team YZF Yamaha.
The sinuous and flowing nature of Donington's layout is an eagerly anticipated venue for the top Kawasaki pairing,
Fonsi Nieto and
Regis Laconi on the PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse machines. Each rider has great experience of the Donington track and feel that it could be a good venue for their fast but sometimes fickle machines.
Serial WSB race winner when a factory rider
Ruben Xaus now riding for Sterilgarda Ducati is currently the top-placed privateer, even if he is on a year-old factory 999 F06 machine. He is closely followed in the current points standings by Max Neukirchner on the Suzuki Germany. Like Xaus, the German rider has yet to finish outside the top ten thus far, and yet Neukirchner is 'only' equipped with a 2006-spec privateer GSX-R.
Despite being told his ride was lost due to sponsorship issues, Steve Martin will now line up beside his regular team-mate
Michel Fabrizio aboard the DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR until at least the Monza race. The DFX team's mixture of youth and experience will be a welcome pairing at
Donington.
The Alto Evolution Honda riders,
Karl Muggeridge and Josh Brookes, could not have more different points of view of Donington going into this weekend. Former UK resident Muggeridge is going back to a venue he knows well from his British Supersport days, while Brookes will see the circuit for the first time shortly before he attacks the curves and heavy braking sections for real in first practice. Once more Giovanni Bussei will team-up with Xaus for this race weekend, on a second Sterilgarda Berik Ducati.
