Superbike World Championship: round three - Valencia

The Spanish round of the Superbike World Championship takes place at the Ricardo Tormo circuit on the outskirts of Valencia. The modern venue is well known to all the superbike riders, as it is a favourite location for winter testing and the host of the first official FG Sport test, held between round two at Phillip Island and this weekend's third round of the championship. Valencia is a tight and twisty circuit built with spectators in mind. Surrounded by grandstands, fans can see almost the entire circuit from their seat. The favourable winter weather conditions and modern facilities, including sprinkler systems to simulate wet conditions, mean that the circuit is in use throughout the year by everything from trucks to Formula One cars, MotoGP to national championship riders. Perhaps because of this, grip levels can be unpredictable, causing conditions to change by the hour and requiring constant adjustments to the set-up of the bike. Yamaha Motor Italia has been busy since the opening rounds of the series at Qatar and Australia, attending official tests at Valencia and Misano. Valencia was the venue for the first of those tests, ensuring that the Yamaha Motor Italia squad goes into this weekend's race with good settings for their YZF-R1 machines. Haga ended that test sixth overall, testing a whole range of chassis, suspension and electronics parts for his bike. Currently lying sixth in the championship, the Japanese ace was in sensational form in Qatar - finishing third in race two after crashing out of the opener while challenging for the lead on the last lap. Valencia is a favourite of Haga, who has won there in 2000 and 2004, and he is looking forward to this weekend's races. Team-mate Andrew Pitt is currently fifth in the championship. Finishing third in Qatar's opening race, Pitt has been the epitome of consistency with two fifth places also to his credit. The 2001 supersport world champion ended the Valencia test just a few places behind his team-mate, setting the eighth fastest time at the end of the three days. Like Haga, the Australian completed a comprehensive test programme and is confident he has found a good set-up for the weekend's race. With the first two rounds taking place seven weeks earlier, many people see the Valencia round as the 'real' start of the season. Having worked out of flight cases at the fly-away rounds in Qatar and Australia, the teams will have the added advantage of having their full accompaniment of trucks and hospitality units to help them settle in for the main European season. This year sees the championship take in a total of 13 rounds of two races each. Valencia marks the start of 10 European races, with the series due to end with a final flyaway round to South Africa, most likely at the Kyalami circuit, in October. Valencia also plays host to round three of the Supersport World Championship and the opening round of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup. In supersport, Australian Kevin Curtain lies second in the championship having finished in that position in the opening two races of the season. In superstock, last year's 600cc champion Claudio Corti makes his debut in the 1000cc class as Yamaha looks to make it a hat-trick in the championship. The third-generation YZF-R1 has won the series every year since the bike was introduced for the 2004 season.