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In the midst of its 25th anniversary celebrations the eni FIM Superbike World Championship makes another major step forward in history as international bike racing arrives in Russia for the very first time. The eleventh round of this exciting season also constitutes a milestone for motorcycle racing in general: Russia is in fact a major industrial power with 143 million inhabitants, a rapidly growing economy and an enormous number of motorsport fans, who will have an opportunity to see World Superbike in person for the first time.

The event takes place this coming weekend, 24-26 August, at the spectacular new Moscow Raceway circuit, measuring 3931 metres in its WSBK layout. The circuit, which cost around 130 million Euro to build, lies close to Volokolamsk, around 100 kms to the west of the immense Russian capital.

Moscow Raceway was inaugurated on July 15 with a World Series car event, and to give the Superbike riders the possibility of getting to know the track, a supplementary test-session has been organized for Wednesday 22 August. The event itself will be presented to the Russian and international media on Thursday 23 August at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow, close to the Kremlin.

The Russian Round will be the start of the decisive run-in for this year's title and the situation in the championship could not be any closer. At the last round in Silverstone chasing rider Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) whittled down the gap to Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team), who has led the standings since the opening round in Australia, to just 10.5 points. Two rounds ago Biaggi had a 55-point lead over his fellow Italian, but in Superbike every race is unpredictable and surprises are the order of the day. With 200 points still up for grabs in the final four rounds (Russia, Germany, Portugal and France), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Team Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) are also still in with a chance, with Rea just 70.5 points from the leader.

41-year-old Biaggi has been preparing for the race with just a short holiday break and his usual careful training routine, while after Silverstone Melandri celebrated his 30th birthday with friends at home.

In the UK neither Biaggi nor Melandri were able to score particularly brilliant results, picking up respectively 2.5 and 13 points out of a total of 37.5, due to the half score awarded in the rain-affected second encounter. But Sykes (10 points), Checa (16) and Rea (16.5) could only partially capitalize on the leading duo's setbacks and for them Moscow represents one of the final opportunities to remain in touch with the leaders.

The Manufacturers' race is also at a good point with BMW (316 points) now ahead of Aprilia (302.5): this is the first time that the German manufacturer has been in the lead of this particular classification. Ducati are not far behind either on 300 points and even Kawasaki (253.5) have a good chance of closing the gap.

The title race is made even more exciting by the fact that as well as the leading contenders, there are also many other riders in with a chance of upsetting the applecart by going for individual race wins. Silverstone was a case in point, with the 19-year-old Frenchman Loris Baz, the Kawasaki Racing Team's revelation, producing terrific form to score his first win and a third place. Baz has already taken three podiums in the last four races and is sure to be a contender in the future.

All eyes will also be on Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team), Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) and Davide Giugliano, the 22-year-old youngster from Rome and Checa team-mate in Althea Racing. One man to watch with particular attention will be Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Racing Team Ducati), the Frenchman who has already won in the wet in the Netherlands and the UK, moving into eighth place overall and becoming top 'satellite' rider. The FIXI Crescent Suzuki team also showed signs of a revival at Silverstone, with Leon Camier in particular emerging as a frontrunner.