After season-opening rounds at the long-haul destinations of Qatar and Australia, the 12-round World Superbike championship returns to more familiar territory for the remainder of the championship season starting with Spain this weekend of the 22nd-24th April.
Valencia, now something of a regular stop off point for WSBK races and test sessions, is round three in the current series. First introduced to the championship in 2000, the 4.005km Valencia race circuit is a largely twisty and is known by the teams and riders to offer little grip as well as the added bonus of changeable grip conditions thanks to the sea breeze that blows dust onto the circuit randomly. However it was built with the spectators in mind, and many grandstands offer the paying public a good view of most of the circuit.
Several of the current crop of World Superbike contestants have already taken race wins there, most notably
James Toseland,
Troy Corser and
Noriyuki Haga in the days gone by.
A glance at the current championship standings tells the story of the early 2005 series, with Alstare Suzuki riding duo of Troy Corser and
Yukio Kagayama having scored the a majority of the points on offer. With 91 from a possible 100 for Corser and 85 for Kagayama, the Suzuki squad could hardly be better placed as they enter the Valencia round. Added to this their total domination during the official test after Qatar, the pair are seemingly unstoppable. Corser currently has three wins (26 in his career) while WSBK new-boy Kagayama has a single success; race two in Qatar.
The closest challenger to the dominance of the Suzukis has been the Xerox Ducati of 2004 season runner up,
Regis Laconi. His two podium finishes so far in 2005, and two gritty rides against adversity in Australia leave him third in the championship table, with 54 points.
