Kiyonari scored a brilliant double win on British soil one month ago, so expect more of the same from the Japanese star on another circuit he knows well from his BSB days, while Ruben Xaus (Sterilgarda Go Eleven Ducati), surprisingly scoreless since his Misano win, makes up the top 10 in the points table.

The Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse pairing of Makoto Tamada and Régis Laconi have both been out of the points for far longer, since Nurburgring to be exact, but new suspension geometry developments at Donington should help the team obtain more respectable results in this latter part of the season.

Boosting the strong WSBK permanent entry list will be a powerful contingent of successful BSB regulars, headed by Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki), who returns for another bite of the cherry after his excellent performance at Brands Hatch, while the official UK Honda team, champions HM Plant, will bring BSB race winners Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow to the world stage. For team manager Neil Tuxworth, it will also be a return to World Superbikes for the first time since the epic Edwards-Bayliss encounter at Imola in 2002, when he was in charge of the winning Castrol Honda squad.

FIM Supersport World Championship

The Supersport regulars face up to their tenth event just a month after the loss of one of the championship's main protagonists and most popular figures, Craig Jones, who tragically lost his life following injuries received at Brands Hatch.

With four rounds remaining, the championship increasingly looks to be turning into a battle between the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda pairing of Andrew Pitt and Jonathan Rea, who have won the last four rounds between them. The youngster from Northern Ireland has now leapt up into second place and is fully confirming the expectations placed in him in his debut season, while Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport) and Joshua Brookes (Hannspree Stiggy Motorsport Honda) are always in the leading group but have been unable to challenge for the wins.

With Fabien Foret (Yamaha World Supersport) out of action due to injury until the final races, the next man up in the standings is the early-season surprise runner Joan Lascorz (Glanermotocard.com Honda), but he has failed to figure in the top positions for the past five rounds.

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