All-French affair in European Superstock 600

The seventh round of 10 in the European Superstock 600 Championship will be taking place in a couple of weekends' time at Silverstone. After six hard-fought events the situation in the points standings looks to be swinging firmly in the favour of France and barring any major surprises, the successor to Britain's Gino Rea in the 2010 title battle will be one of two French youngsters, Jeremy Guarnoni (#11) or Florian Marino (#21).

The former, 17 years of age from Toulouse, is in his third year in the category reserved for Superstock youngsters and following a sixth place finish in 2009, now looks to have matured to the point where he can take the crown. Out of the six rounds held so far, the Yamaha MRS Racing rider has taken four wins, one second and a third place in his total of 136 points, to lead the championship standings.

Thirty points adrift from Guarnoni is Florian Marino. The rider for the reigning championship winning team, Ten Kate Race Junior Honda, is a 17-year-old from Cannes and also has a respectable results sheet to his name: five podiums with two wins, two seconds and a third. Unlike his rival Florian failed to score any points at the opening Portimao round after retiring on lap 5.

75 points remain up for grabs and in the remaining four rounds Marino will be aiming to make up the gap on his compatriot and chief adversary for the title.

Two Italians are competing for the overall third place slot behind the pacesetters, Federico D'Annunzio and Berardino Lombardi (both Yamaha Martini Racing), together with Norwegian interloper Frederik Karlsen (Yamaha MTM Racing Team) whose excellent start has been followed by misfortune in the last couple of races.