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The FIM Sportbike World Championship roars back into action after a month’s break, with their most recent races at Assen back in April. The nascent Championship and its riders have provided some of the paddock’s most entertaining racing this season, making its Autodrom Most return a hotly anticipated affair, exacerbated by the tight battle between the riders at the top, with only 16 points separating five riders.

SALVADOR AT THE HEAD OF THE GROUP: The Spaniard has taken podiums from three out of four races so far

David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) rides at the front of the World Sportbike pack; the Spaniard has been the quickest so far of the riders atop what’s proving to be a formidable Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 package. He hasn’t yet managed to top the podium, but his podium consistency so far has been his rock; he finished fourth and second last year here in WorldSSP300, so expect more of the same from the #38. Behind him, Jeffrey Buis (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) picked up the pace at home last round, taking his first win in the category as his Suzuki GSX-8R continues to show its power as well. WorldSSP300 wins here both last season and in 2021, making the Dutchman a hard man to bet against in the round to come. Buis’s Belgian teammate Ferre Fleerackers has perhaps the hottest hand of the field as he won the most recent Race 2 at Assen, an accolade perhaps overdue for the #65 as he has been in the thick of the podium fight all season so far.

 ARTIGAS ASCENDANT: The Spaniard will look to continue his climb

Spanish Kawasaki rider Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) found his way onto the podium for his first WorldSPB rostrum result last round in Race 1, while his results might not show it, he has the pace and the racecraft to win races and sits in the thick of the battle at the top of the standings, 15 points out from 1^st and five behind Fleerackers ahead of him. Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) cut the ribbon on the new category by winning its first-ever race, but an off-pace pair of P10s in Round 2 at Assen cost him important points. He sits in fifth in the standings, however and can bounce back here. While Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) sat the first-ever WorldSPB pole in Round 1, his round was one to put behind him, and he did just that at Assen. Vannucci will look to take another step on his Aprilia RS 660 Factory and get back to the winning ways he closed out WorldSSP300 with.

RETRIBUTION FOR HIS HOME ROUND: Veneman will look to get back on the horse at Most

Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) crashed out of Race 1 in his home round at Assen, a tough start he was hardly able to recover from in Race 2 after he closed Portimao with a stunning first win of his season. A race win double back in 2024 at Most is a promising sign to complete his return to form and close the 29-point gap to the front. Bruno Ieraci (CM Triumph Factory Racing), behind him in P8 on the standings, has been the top Triumph rider so far this season, landing top ten finishes in every race so far and fighting for the podium places on more than one occasion. His teammate and countryman, Elia Bartolini, is just behind him on the standings, and like Ieraci, he looks to get their British machinery its first WorldSPB podium at Most. Sitting in the top 10’s final spot, Kas Beekmans (VLR Racing Team Suzuki) had an unfortunate start to his season with a crash and resulting injury to his right hand in Portimao’s opening race. He took a big step for P5 in Race 2 at Assen and will look to continue that climb.

WILDCARD APPEARANCE: Stepan Zuda hopes to play home hero at Most

Czech 20-year-old Stepan Zuda joins the grid at Autodrom Most, red hot after his season opening double in the Euro Moto Sportbike category at the Sachsenring. The wildcard will be his second appearance in the WorldSBK paddock after a one-race appearance back in 2020 at Estoril.

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