Preview - Monza.

World Superbike championship leader James Toseland takes a 50 per cent win record to round six, at Monza, this weekend - where he will aim to overcome some fired-up 'locals' and finally seize his first double victory.

Toseland's unrivalled ability to win a race per meeting so far in 2007 has propelled him 32 points clear at the top of the standings, but a double victory has so far eluded him - due to a mix of bad luck and hefty competition.

That level of competition has seen five of the current top six riders taking at least one win this year, and with four other race winners from past seasons also in the Monza mix, competition for the podium places will be as intense as ever on Sunday.

But for one rider Monza will take on special significance. Having been drafted into the WSBK paddock this season, current second placed rider Max Biaggi will have the chance to race in front of his home crowd for the first time in two years - and for the very first time on a Superbike.

The Monaco-based Roman has lived up to the pre-season hype, scoring the first win of the year at Losail, in Qatar, and resisting the early season pressure of all but the hyper-motivated and consistent Toseland - but must be growing desperate for that second win..

But the Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider is by no means the only Italian with his eyes on a prize at the magnificent parkland circuit this weekend.

Factory Ducati star Lorenzo Lanzi is desperate to get back to winning ways after a prolonged dry spell, while Toseland's Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate Roby Rolfo would surely give just about anything for a top three as the pressure to perform grows. A dark pre-race horse is DFX Honda's Michel Fabrizio, one of the leading privateers and man who has already shown he can take podiums in the top class - just not so far in 2007.

It is impossible for most riders to approach Monza without at least a nod towards the emotions that racing on such a historic and speed-obsessed circuit brings to the surface. But for two of the top few, it means even more to their teams than it does to themselves: Yamaha Motor Italia is based only a fast highside away from the Lesmo corners at Monza, and they more than any other team can consider Monza as a true home race. Their riders, Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser, are currently third and fifth respectively, and each is more than capable of a race win or two on the fast new Yamaha R1.

The other home team is, of course, Ducati - whose reigning champion Troy Bayliss has had a somewhat disturbed start to his latest title defence, but at Assen last time out he proved to be right back to form; stalking then mugging Toseland on the line in race two to help secure a fourth overall in the championship chase.

Last year's champion, injured at Donington Park, loves the Monza layout as does his aerodynamically sound Ducati and, of all the riders currently chasing Toseland, he is the one who appears to have the strongest tailwind of motivation at present.

Unless you count the resurgent Ruben Xaus who has taken his 2006 factory spec Ducati to a win already this year. Despite a fall at Assen big Ruben is sixth overall, one slender point ahead off Lanzi's official machine. Xaus came close to winning the championship in 2003, and is keen to get back into a position to challenge for top honours again.

Meanwhile, there is more than one impressive rider called Max in Suzuki colours this year, as Max Neukirchner has been making a more than sound job of keeping a year old privateer Suzuki competitive - not just against the top privateers, but blooding the noses of many riders on even better equipment. Currently in the top eight, he should find his Suzuki fast enough to compete at Monza.

With so many fast sections at Monza, and so many areas of hard braking, the official Kawasaki duo of Regis Laconi and Fonsi Nieto will be looking to Monza as a good opportunity to make up the ground they have lost in the early part of the 2007 season. If they can combine their machine's impressive power output with a good set-up for the many chicanes at Monza, then the sky is the limit. Another rider looking to get back to his usual self is Biaggi's team-mate Yukio Kagayama; a rider much injured this year, in terms of confidence as well as physical abilities.

With so many good officially entered machines in SBK this year, it has been a tough year for the privateers so far - with the exception of Xaus. Along with Neukirchner and Fabrizio, Caracchi SC Ducati's Jakub Smrz has been consistently impressive on his 2005 bike, while riders like Josh Brookes and Alto Evolution Honda team-mate Karl Muggeridge occasionally shining through the bad luck they have experienced too often for their liking so far. Steve Martin's on/off relationship with DFX Honda means he may or may not appear for the cash-strapped outfit at Monza.

A vast grid of riders will take on the Supersport challenge but the story of the year so far in terms of wins and podiums is Kenan Sofuoglu. The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider is already a staggering 53 points clear of his nearest challenger, after four wins and one second place!

The Turk will be joined once more by his regular team-mate, Sebastien Charpentier, who is fighting back from pelvic and coccyx injury. The double champion is currently only 14th overall after positing only two race finishes.

GIL Kawasaki's Fabien Foret is second overall, the only man to have deposed Sofuoglu from his perennial winning status. After a third at Assen, he will fancy his chances on his highly adept new Kawasaki at Monza.

Such has been the hurly-burly of the crash-strewn Supersport battles thus far that Althea Honda's Katsuaki Fujiwara is still third overall, despite two recent no scores, which were neither his nor his team's fault.

Broc Parkes will be partnered this weekend by 250GP rider Anthony West in the Yamaha World Supersport Racing Team, while another Australian, Kevin Curtain, continues his recuperation from injuries sustained at Valencia.

Two weeks after Monza, Silverstone is the venue for round seven of the championship, which starts with practice on Friday 25 May and continues on to race day on Sunday 27 May.

Crash