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• Michel Fabrizio, on his 100th race start, scored his maiden pole position, the 150th for Ducati. An Italian rider didn't start from pole since the Eurospeedway Lausitz races back in 2005 (Lanzi);

• Win number forty for Noriyuki Haga in race 1;

• 30th podium placement for Max Biaggi in race 1. The rider from Rome reached Giancarlo Falappa in the sixteenth place all-time;

• For the first time since his superbike debut, Ben Spies was not able to reach the podium in at least one of the two races of the weekend;

• Marco Simoncelli debuted in Superbike with an eighth place in qualifying and a third in race 2. Marco is the 19th youngest rider to climb on the podium at 22 years, 8 months and 7 days. The record belongs to Yuichi Takeda, who was eighteen, eight months and 27 days when he won in Sugo, 1996;

• For the first time in his career Ryuichi Kiyonari missed the top-ten in qualifying for the fourth straight time;

• In Supersport Kenan Sofuoglu added another win to his total and now he is alone in the all-time charts with 14 wins to Sébastien Charpentier's 13;

• With his fourth straight win in Superstock 1000, Xavier Simeon reached Claudio Corti and James Ellison at the top of the all-time list with seven wins. Xavier in Imola became the only rider in history to score eight straight podiums;

• Maiden win for Eddi La Marra in Superstock 600. At 20 years and 3 months he is the second oldest maiden winner behind Roy Ten Napel, who was 20 years, six months and three days older in Vallelunga, 2007.

MAGNY-COURS PERSONAL SCORECARD

• Max Biaggi has always managed to finish inside the first six positions in four races here, even in 2007, race 1, when he was involved in a first turn accident and had to take a trip through the gravel. His best result is a second place in race 2, 2007;

• Carlos Checa was one of the leading riders last year, finishing fourth in race 2. In race 1 he was among the leaders in the first stages, but eventually came home seventh;

• Troy Corser has raced in all the Magny-Cours events from 2003 onwards, ending up on the podium ten times out of twelve. His best result is a second place in race 2, 2006, followed by three third places, the last one last year in race 2. His last retirement at Magny-Cours was recorded in 2004, race 1. Corser scored pole at Magny-Cours in 2004 and 2006. The 2004 one was the second and last for Petronas;

• Michel Fabrizio is called upon to raise his game at Magny-Cours after some disappointing results there: his only placement inside the top 10 in six races is a ninth in race 2, 2007. In the Supersport championship he scored pole and finished third in 2005, while in Superstock 1000 he was on pole in 2003, finishing fourth;

• Noriyuki Haga's results in Magny Cours are outstanding: he is the most successful winner with four victories. He posted three straight wins with a double in 2007 and race 1 last year and adds to that four more podium finishes. Out of ten starts, he wasn't on the podium only in race 1, 2005, when he crashed and in 2006, race 2, when he was fourth. Last year he started from pole for the first time on the French track;

• Leon Haslam raced at Magny-Cours in 2003 and 2004, obtaining two sixth places as his best result;

• Yukio Kagayama obtained two second places in his debut year, 2005, behind Chris Vermeulen and Lanzi, but after that he wasn't able to reach the podium anymore. Last year he was seventh and eighth starting from the fifteenth spot, his worst qualifying result on the French track;

• Lorenzo Lanzi was the winner in race 2, 2005, his only podium placement at Magny-Cours. In 2007 he triggered an accident at the first turn which cost him the participation in the second race and last year he obtained his worst result at the chequered flag: eleventh in race 2. In the Superstock 1000 championship he started second behind Michel Fabrizio in 2003, winning the race from James Ellison;

• Karl Muggeridge obtained his best result on his debut, 2005, when he finished fourth, a few tenths away from the podium. After that race his results went downhill and in the last four races, his best placement is an eleventh place in 2007, race 2. In 2003 and 2004 Karl won the Supersport race;

• Fonsi Nieto has been classified inside the top 10 every year since 2007, race 1. Last year he obtained his best result: second behind Haga in race 1;

• Broc Parkes was outstanding in his Supersport appearances: he was the only rider to win, score a pole or post a fastest lap with a bike different from the Honda CBR 600 RR, obtaining his results with a Yamaha YZF-R6;

• Jonathan Rea qualified in second place for the Supersport race last year, but in the race he was ninth after being the victim of a collision triggered by Robbin Harms;

• Luca Scassa raced four times in the Superstock 1000 category finishing fourth in 2007;

• Jakub Smrz had to endure three retirements before being able to reach the chequered flag at Magny-Cours, last year in race 2, when he was thirteenth;

• In the 2008 races, Makoto Tamada finished eighteenth twice;

• Ruben Xaus was second and first in the 2003 races, but in the last two seasons he wasn't able to climb on the podium, obtaining as best result a fifth place in race 2 last year.

OTHER NOTES ON THE MAGNY-COURS RACES

• Ducati is by far the most successful winning manufacturer at Magny-Cours, with nine wins to Yamaha's three and Honda's two. Yamaha however has won three of the last four races held on the French track, thanks to Haga;

• The last win by Honda was recorded in 2006, race 1 (James Toseland);

• Honda is the only manufacturer to score two pole positions (2005 and 2007), while all the other manufacturers have scored only one (Kawasaki, Ducati, Petronas, Suzuki and Yamaha). The only Ducati pole was scored in 2003 by James Toseland, which was also his maiden pole.

MILESTONES IN FRANCE

Superbikes ran in France from 1988 to 1991 and then from 2003 onwards. The tracks used were Le Mans and Paul Ricard from 1988 to 1990 and Magny-Cours from 1991 onwards. These are the milestones recorded on French ground:

• 1988, Le Mans: Fabrizio Pirovano scored his first win and his first fastest lap, the first one recorded by Yamaha;

• 1989, Paul Ricard race 2: 10th win for Bimota and first fastest lap for Giancarlo Falappa. In race 1 Mike Baldwin, the other works rider for the Bimota Experience team scored his first (and only) fastest lap;

• 1990, Le Mans: Baldassarre Monti scored his first pole position, the 10th for Honda. In race 2 Raymond Roche scored his 25th podium finish;

• 2003, Magny-Cours: first pole position for James Toseland;

• 2005, Magny-Cours race 1: 10th win for Chris Vermeulen. In race 2 Lorenzo Lanzi scored his first fastest lap and Noriyuki Haga his 50th podium finish;

• 2006, Magny-Cours: Troy Bayliss started his 100th race in the World Superbike Championship;

• 2007, Magny-Cours: Troy Corser beat the all-time record of race starts that belonged to Pierfrancesco Chili. The Italian counted 276 race starts and after the Magny-Cours weekend Corser was on 277. First fastest lap for Max Neukirchner;

• 2008, Magny-Cours: Troy Bayliss scored his 50th win in race 2.

ANNIVERSARIES OF THE RACE WEEKEND

• October 2nd 1988: The last two races of the first Superbike championship take place at Manfeild. Davide Tardozzi came to New Zealand leading the standings, but was beaten by Fred Merkel (winner in race 1 and fifth in race 2), ending the season third behind his fellow-countryman Fabrizio Pirovano;

• October 3rd 2004: Magny-Cours race 1, first and only fastest race lap for Steve Martin. 1993, Donington, first podium for Jamie Whitham;

• October 4th 1998, Sugo race 1, first and only win for Keiichi Kitagawa. In the same race Akira Ryo scored his first fastest lap and climbed for the first time onto the podium. 1992, Monza race 2: 10th fastest lap for Fabrizio Pirovano and first podium for Piergiorgio Bontempi;

SUPERSPORT FLASH DATA

• The Honda CBR600RR has scored pole, win and the fastest lap five times out of six races held at Magny-Cours. Broc Parkes is the man who prevented a Honda whitewash with pole and fastest lap last year and a victory in 2005 on a Yamaha YZF-R6;

• Honda has twice the number of podium placements (12) as its rivals: Yamaha (5) and Suzuki (1);

• The only rider to score two wins at Magny-Cours was Karl Muggeridge (2003 and 2004);

• The rider who can count the highest number of podium placements is Broc Parkes, with four finishes inside the top three, scored straight from 2004 to 2007.