Second to the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider is his only real championship concern, Fabien Foret (GIL Kawasaki) some 45 points behind. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Althea Honda) has been trying hard to shed his bad luck from the 2006 season and despite some high profile incidents (mostly the work of other riders) the Japanese star is still third overall.
Fourth in another rider with a DNF or two against his name, Robbin Harms (Stiggy Motorsports Honda) and the resurgent GSX-R campaigner, Barry Veneman (Pioneer Hoegee Suzuki) is fifth, showing the strength in depth of entries from various competing factories in 2007.
Gianluca Nannelli (Caracchi Ducati SC 749R) and Kevin Curtain (Yamaha World SSP Racing) may miss Misano through injury, while Sebastien Charpentier (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Broc Parkes (Yamaha WSS Racing) will each be out to claim their first win of the 2007 season.
Following the Misano race weekend, test sessions at Brno and Vallelunga will interrupt the traditional July break for the top teams before the highly popular and beautifully sculpted circuit of Brno, set deep in the forests of the Czech Republic, hosts the ninth round of the championship, between 20 and 22 July.
