Sofuoglu, La Marra, Vd Mark and Wimmer lead the way in support classes

Uncertainty also reigns in the battle for the World Supersport crown. After eight rounds of 13 Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Lorenzini) is tenaciously holding on to his leadership despite injuries and penalties that have slowed his progress down in the last few rounds. The two-time winner has a 23-point lead over British rider Sam Lowes (Bogdanka PTR Honda) whose copybook has been blotted with two no-scores at Assen and Misano. His home track will give Lowes a good opportunity to close the gap.

Two Frenchmen with the same aim are Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step), galvanized by his win at Brno, and Jules Cluzel (PTR Honda) while Broc Parkes (Ten Kate Racing Products Honda) is not far off the top either but with five rounds to go these three must now pull out all the stops to remain in touch with the leaders. Newcomers on the Supersport scene at this round will include Britain's Dan Linfoot in the newly-formed Kawasaki MSD R-N India team and Moto2 rider Kenny Noyes from the USA on a WK Hampshire Racing Suzuki.

Superstock 1000

The FIM Superstock 1000 Cup arrives at its seventh round of 10 with Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Team Italia Ducati) at the top of the table with a 19-point lead over Sylvain Barrier of the BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet team. The 23-year-old Italian made the break with a second place in the wet at Brno, capitalizing on the French rider's second successive crash. But after recent results the leading duo now have to keep an eye on Australian Bryan Staring, winner of the last two races. The 25-year-old Kawasaki Pedercini rider from Perth is riding brilliantly and is just 24 points off the top slot. Further down the field and more or less out of contention are Lorenzo Savadori (Barni Racing Team Italia Ducati) and Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki), who however is rapidly becoming a frontrunner at this level.

Superstock 600

The battle between the Netherlands and Italy continues unabated in the European Superstock 600 Championship. After six rounds of 10 in the under-22 category, the 19-year-old Dutchman Michael van der Mark (EAB Ten Kate Junior Team Honda) heads the field, but by just two points over his fellow 19-year-old competitor Riccardo Russo (Team Italia FMI Yamaha). With three wins apiece, two of the most interesting young talents in Europe have made the championship their own this year and they now have a virtually unassailable lead over Belgium's Gauthier Duwelz (MTM Racing Yamaha), who is however rapidly emerging in his own way with four podiums in the six races. Last weekend Russo was unable to clinch the Italian CIV title at Misano, as both wins went to Franco Morbidelli (Bike Service R.T. Yamaha) who will be racing as a wild-card at Silverstone.

KTM European Junior Cup

The last race on the Silverstone weekend programme will be the sixth round (of 8) of the KTM European Junior Cup, the one-make trophy series reserved for talented under-19 youngsters. In the previous round at Brno Austria's Lukas Wimmer powered back to the top of the table and now has an eight-point lead over Javier Orellana. The Spanish rider, who turned 15 last Friday, has already had some experience in the KTM Red Bull 125GP series but is also performing well on the Duke 690 machines directly supplied by the Mattighofen factory.