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At Magny-Cours last season, Lorenzo Savadori was just seconds away from clinching the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup title when disaster struck. In a completely unforced error, the Italian crashed at the Nurburgring chicane and threw away his chances, gift-wrapping the crown for Argentinean Leandro Mercado.

However, it is arguably safe to say that the now 22-year-old from Cesena is all but crowned for 2015. In fact, so confident were he and his Nuova M2 Racing – Aprilia team that they prepared title celebration t-shirts for the last round at Misano; this proved to be a little premature as, in actual fact, it was not mathematically possible.

With only two races left to run (Jerez in Spain this weekend followed by Magny-Cours in France two weeks later), Savadori carries a 34-point advantage over compatriot Roberto Tamburini (Team MotoxRacing – BMW) who is the only rider capable of denying his fellow countryman of the title.

What has put Savadori in this strong position across the six races so far? A 100% podium finish rate, consisting four race wins and two second places. Furthermore, alongside himself and Kevin Calia will be a third Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia on the grid this weekend, ridden by Alessandro Andreozzi: the Italian CIV Moto2 Champion of 2011 and 23 times a race starter in the World Superbike Championship.

Tamburini’s run has been almost as strong, with five podiums (two wins, two second places and one third); the costly loss of points for him came at Assen, when he crashed after clipping the back of Kevin Valk’s bike on the start/finish straight.

The sequence of events since the Aragon opener on 12 April means that, to secure the title in Jerez, all Savadori needs to do is win the race or finish second. Even a top five finish would be enough providing Tamburini fails to win, while Savadori will be Champion regardless if Tamburini ends proceedings seventh or lower. The odds are certainly in the Aprilia rider’s favour.

Aprilia itself could also come up trumps in Spain, as the Italian marque can guarantee the title for Manufacturers by - like Savadori – either winning the race or finishing in second position. Both BMW and Ducati can still claim the crown mathematically, but Aprilia looks to be in a strong position as it carries respective leads of 34 and 39 points over its two rivals, which continue their own fierce fight for runner-up spot.

Elsewhere, there are more changes to the regular rider line-up, most notably at MRS Yamaha where Austrian Lukas Trautmann has been drafted in to cover for the injured Kev Coghlan, who sustained injuries in an IDM Superbike race (incidentally, the Scot’s first ever Superbike race) during the WorldSBK summer break. Trautmann’s team-mate will be South African Mathew Scholtz, who is riding the bike of Florian Marino – the injured Frenchman has declared himself out of action for the rest of the season.

Following an incident at the last round at Misano way back in June, Luca Salvadori will be in need of a medical check-up prior to competing at Jerez, while Riccardo Russo (dropped by his team in the World Supersport Championship) has sought refuge at G.M Racing; he is reserve rider for Michele Magnoni, thus becoming Sylvain Barrier’s team-mate.

The only Wildcard rider will be Spain’s Erik Morillas (RTM by Brillante de Atocha), while One Event competitors are South Africa’s Andre Calvet (BWG Racing Kawasaki) and the aforementioned Andreozzi. At Team18 Sapeurs Pompiers, Antonio Alarcos Torrente bolsters the Spanish representation on the grid to two as he serves as substitute rider for the absent Stephane Egea.

The Superstock 1000 riders will be first to grace the track this weekend, as their opening Friday practice session in Spain will begin at 8:45am local time (GMT +2). On Sunday, the race will start at 2:15pm and can be followed live on WorldSBK.com.