If ever one needed a reminder that ‘it ain’t over til it’s over’, then Sébastien Charpentier’s defence of his World Supersport title last year was it.

A fractured pelvis and collarbone after a mid-season testing crash might have put a question mark over less confident riders. A ninth round retirement leaving a 27-point deficit to the series lead with two races to go might have ended the reign of many champions.

But the affable Frenchman is made of stronger stuff and his last round championship victory at his home race in Magny-Cours was as dramatic as you could wish for. Charpentier became the only rider in the history of World Supersport to successfully defend his title, a fact that almost overshadowed Ten Kate’s and Honda’s fifth straight victory in this fiercely competitive class.

Charpentier returns in 2007, aiming for his own hat-trick and six of the best for Honda, the all-new CBR600RR and his extraordinary Ten Kate team.

It’s been a tough route to the top for Turkey’s only world championship motorcycle racer but Kenan Sofuoglu, proved worthy of his valued Ten Kate World Supersport ride in 2006, taking two significant and successive wins towards the end of the season to secure third place overall.

His first big break was in 2003 when he joined a private team in the German Supersport championship. In the 2004 and 2005 European Superstock championship he finished in 3rd and 2nd place respectively. Without doubt, the 23-year-old has a bright future and his eyes are firmly fixed on replacing his team-mate at the head of the World Supersport table.