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The Gaerne Spanish round will host the season finale of the 2016 FIM Superstock 1000 Cup and two men star in the leading roles. This season has seen an epic rivalry break out between Aruba.it Racing –Junior Team’s Leandro Mercado and Althea BMW Racing Team’s Raffaele De Rosa starting from the very first round at Aragon. The Cup has seen them battle wheel-to-wheel all year and heading into the final round it is the Argentinean rider Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado who leads with 7 points. Both riders will have victory on their minds, but only one man will come out a winner.

Third in the overall standings is Nuova M2 Racing’s Kevin Calia. Though the Italian doesn’t have a mathematical chance at winning the Cup, only 16 points seperates him from fourth placed Micheal Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) and he will do everything he can to finish ahead of the Ducati rider and maintain his top three standing.

Last year’s race saw Calia’s current teammate Roberto Tamburini win the STK1000 race and this year he will be aiming for the same results, regardless of the fight for the Cup. It’s every man for himself and Tamburini will stop at nothing to put his Aprilia on the top step once again.

Lucas Mahias will be competing in his third STK1000 event, replacing the still injured Florian Marino at Pata Yamaha Official Stock 1000 Team. The young Frenchman won the last round at Magny-Cours- his second win in his second race- and his goal heading to Spain remains the same; achieving a third straight win. Judging by his previous results, it could be likely. Yamaha teammate Riccardo Russo finished fourth last year, and is sure to be fighting for a podium finish on the weekend.

Another rider looking to continue on their previous form in Spain will be Agro On-Benjan-Kawasaki’s Bryan Staring. The Australian finished the race at Jerez last year in the top ten and will be looking for a solid top five this year. It will be a sweet achievement that will end his season on a high, before he heads back to Australia ahead of new racing adventures.

The Gaerne Spanish Round will see the STK1000 stars of 2016 hit the track for the final time on the 16th of October and it will be Mercado’s Ducati or De Rosa’s BMW that reigns supreme.