The third round of the World Superbike Championship will bring riders into the Spanish heartland at Valencia. The Circuito Ricardo Tormo has been in the WSBK circuit for 11 consecutive years, and is the shortest track, at just 4005 meters, in this year’s 13 round season.
The first two rounds of the WSBK displayed strong competition from various riders and manufacturers. Three different riders from three on three different bikes have stood on top of the podium. Leon Haslam, Suzuki Alstare, and Carlos Checa, Althea Ducati, both took home race wins at the opening round at Phillip Island. Max Biaggi did the double at Portimao for his Aprilia Alitalia team.
The competition, so far, has been extremely close, with race win differentials of .004 seconds, .307 seconds, .200 seconds, and .191 seconds. Giving a total of just .702 seconds between first and second place finishes. 
The competition will get even more fierce at this weekends event. Haslam, Checa, and Biaggi will all want to climb back on top of the podium, but they will have to go through 5 riders who have all won in the past. Noriyuki Haga, Lorenzo Lanzi, James Toseland, Ruben Xaus and Troy Corser have all won at Valencia. Haga took home both race wins at last years event.
Haslam is the point leader going into this weekend’s event, but he hasn’t won since the first race at Phillip Island. Max Biaggi, who sits in second, is coming off of a two race win streak after Portimao. Carlos Checa sits in third, and will look for race wins when he returns to his home soil.
In fourth and fifth place come the Ducati Xerox riders Michele Fabrizio and Haga. Both riders struggled in Portimao after poor placing in Superpole. If the Ducati Xerox team can earn a better starting position at Valencia, they will be hard to beat across the checkers.
Leon Haslam -Suzuki -85
Max Biaggi -Aprilia -69
Carlos Checa -Ducati -60
Michel Fabrizio -Ducati -46
Noriyuki Haga -Ducati -43
Jonathan Rea -Honda -39
Sylvain Guintoli -Suzuki -33
Leon Camier -Aprilia -32
Troy Corser -BMW -29
Cal Crutchlow -Yamaha -25
James Toseland -Yamaha -25
Shane Byrne -Ducati -25
Lorenzo Lanzi -Ducati -15
Ruben Xaus -BMW -10
Jakub Smrz -Ducati -8
Tom Sykes -Kawasaki -7
Max Neukirchner -Honda -5
Joshua Brookes -Honda- 2
Andrew Pitt - BMW - 2
