Thanks to four strong points scoring rides in real race conditions, Yamaha Motor France rider Norick Abe has secured the status of top Yamaha rider at this point, sitting sixth, just ahead of the Yamaha Motor Italia rider Andrew Pitt. A former World Supersport champion himself, and yet another Aussie, now plying his trade in the new-look Superbike series, Pitt has impressed with his hard riding style and overall commitment.
A double no-score from Pitt's team-mate
Noriyuki Haga at Phillip Island has dropped him down the order to 11th, while Sebastien Gimbert, riding riding alongside Abe, is a true star of pre-season qualifying, but has yet to find his feet in race conditions. A return to the scene of some of his extreme pre-season competitiveness may be just what the Frenchman requires to get back on terms.
Yamaha Sterilgarda's Jose Luis Cardoso will be looking to the familiar setting of Valencia to score his first points since joining the championship. His fellow Spaniard,
Fonsi Nieto riding the SC Caracchi Ducati had a superb ride to fifth in the aggregate race at Phillip Island, securing for himself a top ten championship placing thus far, in what is also his rookie WSBK season. His team-mate, Ducati's favoured son
Lorenzo Lanzi, is yet another rider attempting to overturn some bad luck and show his true abilities in the biggest class of Superbike racing there is.
Chris Walker and Mauro Sanchini of the PSG-1 Kawasaki team look like battling it out for supremacy in the ZX-10 camp, with Walker the pre-season favourite in this internal battle, yet suffering some outrageous misfortune thus far. The Bertocchi Kawasaki squad, comprising Giovanni Bussei and Ivan Clementi, are also capable of upsets on machinery supplied by the fourth major Japanese manufacturer represented in the championship this year.
