WSBK – There can only be one Sunday left … –

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There can only be one Sunday left…

WSBK - There can only be one Sunday left ... -

Forget the All Blacks, Hamilton or even Sebastien Loeb: this weekend at Magny-Cours will be played above all for the grand final of the World Superbike, at the end of which the 2007 title will be awarded … So: James Toseland, Max Biaggi or Noriyuki Haga ?

On Sunday at the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, the tension will be at its peak: after twelve events and 24 races, three drivers can still seize the world crown, capped in 2006 by Troy Bayliss…

The nominees are James Toseland, championship leader since the start of the season and 2004 WSBK champion, Max Biaggi, rookie in this discipline but four times 250cc world champion, and Noriyuki Haga, 3rd in the SBK championship since his return from 500cc in 2004 !

"It was one of the most chaotic seasons of my career", realizes James, who had 66 points ahead of Haga when he left home in early August (Brands Hatch, read) and is only 29 points ahead of Biaggi…

Sunday’s races will be for the British rider not only those of his coronation (?) But also his last in WSBK, since "Giacomo" will race next year in MotoGP on a Yamaha M1 of the French team Tech 3…

"It was a pleasure to race against the two Troys, Nori, Max and the rest of the field", sums up the n ° 52. But the Honda driver Ten Kate does not lose his focus: this weekend, before saying his goodbyes, he will seek to win his second title at Magny-Cours, where he had obtained his first in 2004…

Returning to the British aspi in the provisional classification, Max Biaggi will try to put the brakes on him this Sunday in order to add – finally! – a 5th star on its list … "At least the circuit is not foreign to me", reassures Max who had made his first laps on the Suz K6 last year..

"I will do my best to put the pressure on Toseland throughout the weekend", predicts the famous No. 3."He’s an experienced driver, but in the race anything can happen and I want to be able to take advantage of any mistakes.", insists Biaggi !

Thanks to the support of his many fans – including a certain Antho 🙂 – will the Roman Emperor become the first Italian Superbike world champion? Suspense, when you hold us…

Note that Max’s teammate – Yukio Kagayama is still handicapped by his fall at Brands Hatch – will be replaced Sunday by Max Neukirchner who, entered in the No. 2 SERT Suzuki at the last Bol d’Or (read), will certainly want to do good impression !

But the third man of the weekend will obviously be Noriyuki Haga, posted just four lengths from Biaggi, so 33 from Toseland … On the occasion of this final, the Japanese rider could equal the record of Doug Polen, author of fourteen race lap records in 1991 on Ducati 888 !

However, being the fastest on the track during the last two heats will only be a means and not a goal for Nitro Nori who is still aiming for the world title … "Magny-Cours is going to be a merciless fight for victory", warns the n ° 41 of the Yamaha Santander team..

"Toseland, Biaggi, Bayliss, Corser and I are all aiming for the top step with determination", explains Haga."It will be up to whoever wants it the most and has the best settings. But I intend to ruin the hopes of others !", launches the bad boy of the band !

Better than Nori and its best lap times in the race, Corser is preparing to beat that of the most starts, held for the moment by Pier-Francesco Chili with 276 races contested … The famous n ° 11 counter currently has 275 races, 40 poles, 114 podiums and 33 victories. For the time being…

"I rode well on all my previous bikes and Nori demonstrated the Yamaha’s potential at Magny-Cours so the combination should be good !"exclaims the Australian Crocodile. Let’s hope that this will be true on Sunday: this Troy has not won any race this season so far !

For his part, the other Troy has already recorded seven victories and intends to obtain two more on the handlebars of his good old Ducati! "This weekend, my goal is to offer a nice outing to the 999, a double", wishes Bayliss.

"Last year we suffered a bit but honestly I don’t think the others have made so much progress since then. Yamaha for sure, Suzuki a bit, but the Honda’s not really, so I don’t think we’ll be in such a bad position", analyzes the reigning world champion…

But this afternoon, the two official Ducatis took the first two places in qualifying … And once is not customary, it was Lorenzo Lanzi who set the best time (1’40.962) ahead of Troy Bayliss. They are followed by Haga, Nieto, Corser, Xaus, Toseland, Laconi, Muggeridge and Fabrizio.

As for Biaggi, he is in 14th position just ahead of Yoann Tiberio, Steve Martin and Guillaume Dietrich, our 2007 French champion !

On the Supersport side, the fastest of the first day was again Sebastien Charpentier. Unfortunately, everything remains to be done for the Charente driver who has never managed to "transform his tests" this season…

Fortunately next year, General Seb will embark on a new adventure, since he will invest the World Superbike armed with a CBR 1000 RR with Team Hannspree Honda Altea (see our video) !

Behind Charpentier today came two big names – Broc Parkes on R6 and Kenan Sofuoglu on CBR – and two shock outsiders: Vizziello and Roccoli. David Checa set the 8th fastest time in qualifying while his inseparable teammate Sebastien Gimbert is currently in 11th place, just behind Gregory Leblanc.

This weekend, we are bound to expect a superb show from the two riders of Team GMT 94: recent winners of the Bol d’Or – after 801 laps, they know the layout quite well! -, these very pleasant official squatters of Cyberc @ fe Site during the Mondial du deux-Roues have confirmed to us their desire to "shine for the last"(see our video)! With a podium in special dedication to our super shock hostess ?

Fabien Foret, 14th today, will try to defend his 2007 runner-up status against Parkes. We then find our 2007 French champion Kenny Foray (read) in 20th place on the Honda Intermoto Czech de Lagrive, unfortunately deprived of the final.

Finally follow David Perret on his Kawasaki from the Scratch Moto Racing team and Julien Enjolras on his Yamaha from the Tati Team Beaujolais Racing, respectively in 29th and 30th position..

Have a good sporting weekend to all and meet on Monday on Site to discover the name of the new Superbike world champion !

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