2008 - As the World Championship arrived at Magny-Cours it seemed it was all over as Bayliss needed only four points to clinch his third title and race 1 had very little to say. Troy started well and took the lead, but Haga on the second lap overtook him and pulled away for a solitary win. Bayliss behind him managed to hold a small advantage over his pursuers until the final laps, when Nieto and Fabrizio reached him. Fabrizio took himself out sliding into the gravel trap and Troy a couple of turns later looked over his shoulder and when he noticed that behind him and Nieto there was a big gap, let the Spaniard through and secured a third place which gave him the title. Biaggi finished fourth, fifth was Neukirchner and only sixth Corser, the only one that could keep the Championship challenge open. Behind him Carlos Checa, who was third on the first laps and then fell behind as his soft tyres faded away. Race 2 followed a similar pattern as at the start Haga took the lead on the first lap after a short sprint ahead by Bayliss. The Australian however was not so easy-going as in race 1 and tried to keep up with Haga. The duo pulled away from the rest of the field and after a handful of laps, as a few drops of rain appeared on the track, Bayliss passed Haga and went into the lead. Soon afterwards Corser reached Haga and passed him for second on the ninth lap. Haga was having none of it and re-passed his team-mate on the following lap and took the lead one lap later pulling away slightly from Bayliss and Corser, with Checa overlooking a few meters behind. Bayliss then speeded up and set after Haga, while Corser dropped back. The Ducati rider caught Haga six laps to the end and hit the front four laps later, sealing the win with a very quick fast lap which didn't allow Haga to reply.

2007 - Toseland scored pole and seemed to be in full control, but at the start of race 1 Lanzi missed his braking point at the first turn taking James unaware. Lanzi fell heavily, while Toseland and Biaggi were forced to take a trip on the sand trap, resuming in the last positions of the field. Out in front Haga had little problems in dominating the race, with his team-mate Corser behind him, while Biaggi and Toseland at the end managed to contain damages finishing sixth and seventh. At the start of race 2 Toseland still had 17 points over Haga in the World Championship standings, while Biaggi was out of the contest, but the Englishman was upset by the outcome of race 1. The 24 laps of race 2 for him were a nightmare: out in front Haga went on to win, unreachable, while Toseland made one mistake after the other and ran just close to the positions that gave him the title. At the end Toseland won the Championship thanks to a sixth place that granted him a two points advantage over the Japanese.

2006 - In the final weekend at Magny-Cours, with the title assigned, there was still room for some genuine battles among the leaders: race 1 was a close affair between Haga, Corser, Toseland and Bayliss. Keeping count of the positions was purely academic, as the race order changed on every lap if not at every corner. In the end it was Toseland who won, in front of Haga who had to work his way from 11th position after a mistake at the start. Corser was third and Bayliss, who slowed down at the end, fourth. Race 2 was even closer, with Bayliss, Haga, Toseland, Corser and Muggeridge all able to fight for the lead for 10 laps. Then Muggeridge fell behind due to a mistake, and after him also Haga slowed his pace due to rear tyre wear. The fight then was between Toseland in the lead, with Bayliss and Corser behind. The new Champion, Bayliss, went past the Englishman two laps from the end, and on the following laps also Corser went past, with Toseland playing it safe to maintain the second place in the Championship from Haga.

Spies is only three points behind the Japanese star with two rounds to go, and felt that things could have actually been worse for him on raceday at Imola, as the combination of his R1 and Spies himself were not able to find an edge against the lead riders in a real race situation.

Ben has been in close championships fights many times in his AMA career, and he confirmed that his machine works particularly well at some other tracks, and he believes that improvements will come at the final two venues, Magny-Cours and Portimao.

"We have good tracks for our bike, like PI, Qatar and Miller. Different tracks suit different bikes," said Ben after the races on Sunday.

"I gave it 100% and ran off twice, and we are still three points behind. It will be a good last four races. After the end of race one I am surprised we only have a three-point deficit. I was a bit afraid because there were quite a few people who had the pace I did. I did not have outstanding pace at all, but I rode hard."