Toseland can win title on Sunday

If James Toseland can extend his title lead by nine points at Vallelunga on
Sunday, then he will be crowned the 2007 World Superbike champion one
round early.

The Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider heads into the penultimate round 41
points clear of Yamaha Italia's Noriyuki Haga, with 100 points still to be
won. Therefore if Toseland can push his title lead up to 50 points by the
end of Sunday's pair of races, then he will have an unstoppable advantage.

"We are so close to the end of the season now, but it still feels a long way
away to me - particularly after what happened in Lausitz," said 2004 world
champion Toseland, who struggled at the German round. "I still have a
good advantage, but I know that in racing anything can happen and you
can't relax until you have two hands firmly on the trophy. I am trying to
focus on the individual races and getting on the podium, but I am not
letting go of my lead without a fight."

"With the championship reaching its final stages and James still leading
the title chase, we are feeling a bit of pressure," admitted team manager
Ronald ten Kate. "To be honest though, I believe the real pressure is on
our rivals, because they have to make up the points while we just have to
maintain the current lead. During the test at Vallelunga we concentrated on
race distance and we have a good set-up for the CBR1000RRs. Hopes are
high that we can secure two solid results for James and Roby [Rolfo] this
weekend."

As well as Toseland and Haga, third in the championship Max Biaggi (53
points from Toseland) and defending world champion Troy Bayliss (79
points from Toseland) also have a mathematical chance of winning the
2007 title. crash.net -photo from motosport.com