Yamaha retained their recent good form at Misano, although
Noriyuki Haga endured a tough weekend that paled into comparison to his double victory at the Nurburgring. Instead,
Troy Corser was their star rider, although even he somehow failed to score a victory at the San Marino round, despite dominating qualifying and leading the first race for much of the way.
Nonetheless, the Australian's second and fifth place finishes strengthen his outsider title hopes, as well as boost his confidence in his lengthy search for a maiden win with Yamaha.
He could be running out of time to do so too if paddock rumours are anything to go by, with many suggesting that Corser is BMW-bound for 2009. He would be joining
Ruben Xaus, who scored his first win of the season at Misano aboard the Sterilgarda Ducati. Leading a Sterilgarda 1-2 ahead of Biaggi, Xaus was the standout rider at Misano and after topping the mid-season test at Vallelunga is now looking to continue similar form at Brno.
If anything though, many eyes this weekend will be on a new World Superbike rider to the fold, Niccoló Canepa. The young Italian makes his debut in the series having been touted as a star for the future, a status consolidated by his role as Ducati's
MotoGP test rider.
Making a star impression in the Vallelunga test, Canepa was second quickest overall and faster than Xerox Ducati team-mates Bayliss and
Michel Fabrizio. Heavily linked as Bayliss' replacement in 2009, Canepa is likely to have plenty World Superbike pundits watching him this weekend.
Still, if the pundits are watching Canepa, there is little doubt who the fans will be cheering around at Brno: Jakub Smrz. Although his results have been relatively patchy this year, Smrz has regularly been the fastest of the privateer riders and is hoping home soil advantage will drive him to a good performance this weekend.
Other notable riders to watch will be
Fonsi Nieto, who has finished all but one race this year, and
Ryuichi Kiyonari, who believes he has found a breakthrough in performance during the mid-season test.
