Xaus and Haga are next up with 68 and 47 points respectively. The Spaniard finished the first four races of the season in the top 4, but suffered a setback at Valencia, while Nitro-Nori looked his usual aggressive self in Spain and his season looks likely to start now.
Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati's Max Biaggi, seventh overall, has had another three weeks to recover from his wrist fracture, and this will be even more vital for the demanding, switchback-style Dutch circuit. The Italian is in need of a couple of good results so as not to lose touch with the leaders.
Three youngsters round off the top 10. Now with three wins to his name, the most experienced and successful of the three is
Lorenzo Lanzi, two points behind Biaggi and three ahead of Neukirchner, who should be fit to race at Assen.
Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) is in tenth position at this stage of the season, ahead of Gregorio Lavilla (Vent-Axia VK Honda) and
Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), who is improving race by race.
Régis Laconi and
Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki PSG-1) showed signs of progress in recent testing at
Jerez, where both riders succeeded in eliminating much of the chattering that has plagued their ZX-10R machines.
In Supersport, Catalan rider Joan Lascorz is the new shining light after running away with a comfortable win in front of his home crowd at Valencia. 23-year-old Lascorz was brilliant on his Glaner Motocard.com Honda and once Andrew Pitt (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) had crashed out, he had it all his own way.
Yamaha World Supersport's Broc Parkes and Fabien Foret lie second and third in the table, the Frenchman in particular recovering rapidly from a disappointing start to the season and he and his experienced Aussie team-mate are sure to go well in the Netherlands with their rapid R6 machines.
Joshua Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) lost his championship lead at Valencia and slipped down to fourth, ahead of Craig Jones (Parkalgar Honda), who has two podium finishes to his name in the first three races of this season.
