Troy Bayliss on the Ducati Xerox machine bounced back from a desperate
Donington no-score with third and sixth places at Valencia, and he now sits fifth overall, albeit some 61 points down on Toseland. His three previous Assen wins include one in 2006, meaning that he is the only rider in the championship with a win at Assen in its current 4.555km layout.
Lorenzo Lanzi, his team-mate is currently sixth in the overall standings but has yet to score a Superbike podium at Assen. He has been a winner here in the past, however, taking the honours in the Superstock 1000 class in 2003.
On a 2006 factory machine with a strong electronics package,
Ruben Xaus for the Sterilgarda Ducati team blew the opposition away at Valencia in race one two weeks ago, and he must also be considered a potential podium man at Assen. He won a Superbike race there in 2003 and a WSS race in 2000, and even though Assen has been through many changes in layout since then, Xaus has shown himself to be able to master tracks of all kinds.
Max Neukirchner riding for Suzuki Germany maintained his advantage over official Honda entrant
Roberto Rolfo on the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda after Valencia, and is still eighth after an impressive start to the season. On a private Suzuki, of largely 2006 vintage, Neukirchner is easily the best of the ‘real’ privateer riders so far.
The current championship top ten is completed by
Regis Laconi aboard the PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse recovering from a low-scoring start of the season to be the top Kawasaki rider after four rounds and eight races. Both his team-mate
Fonsi Nieto and he will be hoping to emulate the win taken by 2006 team-member Chris Walker in 2006, when monsoon-like rains flooded the track. The Honda filling in the Kawasaki points standing sandwich comprises two ingredients,
Michel Fabrizio on the DFX Corse Honda and Josh Brookes on the Alto Evolution Honda, who share 32 points.
