Despite losing ground in the championship chase for two races in succession, James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) enters the final round of the series with a more than healthy 29-point lead, and the best haul of 2008 race wins, an impressive eight.

The competition for wins in 2007 has been immense and three riders are still in the hunt for ultimate glory.

Toseland's Magny-Cours weekend demands that he must be fast and clever to win the title, but he knows all about winning at the final race of the year at the Magny-Cours circuit. In 2004 Toseland won the last race to take the crown, despite a points deficit to the championship leader in the build up to the finale. This time around it is the other riders under pressure to perform, with Toseland needing only to outscore his rivals to win Honda's first Rider's championship since 2002. Toseland currently has 396 points; Max Biaggi has 367 and Noriyuki Haga 363. All other riders are out of the running for ultimate honours now.

In the Manufacturers' championship things could hardly be closer, with Honda ahead by only three points after 23 individual races. (It should be 24, but race two at Silverstone was cancelled because of torrential rain). Such has been the quality of the battles at the front this year that four manufacturers are still in with an arithmetical chance of the championship win itself.

Roberto Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) is now well capable of improving on his current eighth place in the championship, but what the ever-improving rider from Turin wants most of all is to score a podium before the season is out. He has 177 points now, five down on Ruben Xaus and 15 down on Lorenzo Lanzi - with 50 points available to any rider who can win both races on Sunday.

Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) has already stepped on a podium this season, at Brno, but has been unable to find the consistency in man or machine set-up to allow him to match the likes of Toseland and Rolfo. He is tenth, on 123 points.

Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) has not had an easy season in any way but at Magny-Cours, his season best in any individual 2007 race - ninth - may well be under threat on improving machinery.

Yoann Tiberio (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) makes his third appearance in SBK racing for his Honda team, and a special one at that, as he will be running in front of his home fans.

Luca Morelli (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) just missed points at the previous round in Vallelunga, and will thus be desperate to score more, to move from nine points in total to double digits.

Toseland acknowledges that the last few meetings have been anything but normal for a year in which he has been the clear top rider, but he is now out to make the arithmetic of the championship irrelevant when he gets to France.

"This has been one of the most up and down rollercoaster rides of a championship that I've ever competed in," said Toseland. "The pace at the front of World Superbike this year has been incredible and it's been a pleasure racing against the two Troys, Nori, Max and the rest of the field. The racing has been fantastic, but I fly on Wednesday to France with only one intention - to win my second World Superbike Championship in Magny-Cours, where I secured the title in 2004."

Rolfo has necessarily more humble ambitions, but nonetheless just as fervently held ones as team-mate Toseland.

"I have enjoyed this season and the CBR1000RR has definitely improved my riding style," said Rolfo. "I like Magny-Cours and my results there last year were OK. I hope I can do well to make up for race one in Vallelunga when a burst tyre forced me out. Race two went a lot better and I had a good feeling on the bike so I want to continue this in France and end the season strongly - and I really want to score my first podium."

Fabrizio is looking to ensure he ends the season in the top ten.

"Two good races will be vital for me in France," said the 2003 European Superstock Champion. "My aim will be the podium, I just have to work as well as I can in qualifying and get a good grid position. The first corners at Magny-Cours can be very difficult, but the track itself is OK for me."

Muggeridge is ready to make 2007 a memory by securing impressive finishes in the last two races, and hopes the track will be kinder to his machine's electronics package than Vallelunga was.

"Magny-Cours should be good for us this year, better than Vallelunga for sure," said Muggeridge. "We paid for our lack of electronics on the bike there but it should be less of an issue in the next race. Magny-Cours is OK, not the best track we go to but it has some good points. After all the dramas of the season, I want to post two good finishes."

Morelli was an SBK rookie before joining the DFX squad mid-season. Since then he has proved capable of points scores, and now looks to France to secure more.

"It would be a dream to secure points in both the last two races," said Morelli. "It would be great to score over ten points all in, because this has been a tough year. I have learned a lot from the team in a short time and I hope to put it all into action in the last two races."

Tiberio hopes a home track will bring him luck, and despite his relative inexperience his team have praised his approach in stepping-up to SBK racing, adding to his positive outlook for a high-pressure race.

"I am taking a lot of confidence into the final race of the year," said Tiberio. "It is my home track and I know it well, so I think I can make a good result. To score points in the last two races is a good thing to think of when I get to Magny-Cours."

Sunday's races take place at 12.00 and 15.30 CET, and the next stops for the top competitors will be the official test in Qatar, 25 to 27 November.