Brno is the perfect place to get competitive action back on the agenda, after two recent test sessions - one at Brno for the top tyre development teams only, and then a more recent outing to new track of Vallelunga for all the SBK and WSS teams who wished to attend.
James Toseland on his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda may have looked like a clear championship bet after four or five rounds, but as round nine approaches, his rivals are massing on the borders of his reduced 21-point championship lead.
Twenty-one may be an ominous number all round, as it is the race number of his new number one threat,
Troy Bayliss aboard the Ducati Xerox machine who currently leads
Noriyuki Haga from Yamaha Motor Italia by five points. Between the top three there have been 13 victories in 15 attempts (after one cancelled race at
Silverstone robbed everyone of the scheduled 16th).
In fourth place, some 43 points behind Toseland, is Max Biaggi on the Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra who has frequently found himself in a new situation this season, but at Brno at least he not only has previous knowledge from many years of GP racing and winning in the Czech Republic, but he also relies on recent experience on his 2007 GSX-R1000. A recent top team’s tyre development test gave Biaggi valuable track time, and the previous GSX-R has won three of the last four SBK races outright. Two of those victories came for Biaggi’s team-mate,
Yukio Kagayama who was unstoppable in race trim in 2006, winning both races easily.
Troy Corser is currently fifth overall in the championship chase, some 78 points from leader Toseland, and looking for his first 2007 win. The third most successful SBK race winner ever, Corser has scored 33 race wins and 111 podiums in his glittering career, and has previous experience of being a Brno race winner, during his second championship winning season in 2005.
