Long-term championship leader James Toseland (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) had to wait until the final race of the 2007 season to secure the title in a championship class he has led since the very first race meeting of the year - and after a dramatic first corner incident in race one put him off track.

He restarted absolutely last but made it back through the field to secure seventh in the opener, and in finishing a very safe and secure sixth in race two, he beat Magny Cours double race winner Noriyuki Haga to the title by only two points.

The final championship positions in SBK read Toseland 415 points (and 8 wins), Haga 413 (6 wins), Max Biaggi 397 (3 wins) and Troy Bayliss 372 (7 wins).

This is Honda’s first win in the Riders’ Championship since Colin Edwards scored the season victory on a Honda VTR1000SP in 2002, and the sixth Honda victory in the Riders’ Championship since the championship’s inception in 1988. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, Honda is joint second, on 439 points.

Roby Rolfo (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR) went tenth and seventh in the Magny Cours races, after qualifying 11th, to finish his first Honda season in SBK racing on 192 points, This puts him eighth in the rankings, but on the same points as Lorenzo Lanzi, the rider who tangled with Toseland in the first race.

Michel Fabrizio (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) just missed out on a top ten place in the overall championship standings, after scoring a 14th place and a ninth at Magny-Cours. He had qualified 12th in Superpole, and finished his season 11th overall, on 132 points.

Karl Muggeridge (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) rode two characteristically gritty races to record a 12th and an 11th place on raceday, and end his season 16th, on 62 points.

Luca Morelli (DFX Corse Honda CBR1000RR) finished his season 22nd in the ranking, on 11 points, after retiring in race one today, and then scoring 14th place.

Yoann Tiberio (Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR) carried on his steep learning process with two solid and ever-improving performances, running out 13th and 12th in his home races. He was only a tenth of a second behind Muggeridge in race one.

Toseland was understandably as relieved as he was happy to secure his second championship, having enjoyed such an expansive championship lead at one time, only to see bad luck and small errors punished harshly in the last few races.

“It’s about time!” said Toseland from the same venue he wrapped up his first world title at in 2004. “I have led the championship from Qatar and what an incredible championship it has been. I think this has been the best World Supervise season I have ever experienced and I have been riding in the series for seven years now. The standard of riding has been incredible and I have enjoyed battling with all of them – Bayliss, Corser, Biaggi, Haga – the list goes on. I have been pushed to the absolute limit and to win the championship by just two points is unbelievable.”

Toseland was also happy to show that his fighting spirit has been unbowed by his recent misfortunes, and he went all out in Superpole to show he was the fastest rider on track, and unafraid to take risks.

“To get pole position and the title at my last Superbike round is great,” said Toseland who set a new track best in Superpole of 1’38.501. “This is what I live for, it’s what really matters to me and I wanted it so much. This is my way of saying thank you to everyone who has supported me through my Superbike career. I can leave for MotoGP with my head held high and the knowledge that I gave this championship my all until the very last race.”

Hannspree Ten Kate Racing Team Owner Gerrit Ten Kate was understandably emotional about his team winning both Supersport and Superbike championships in 2007, and praised all involved.

“I am of course very proud of all my guys, without my team I cannot do anything,” said Ten Kate, who earlier in the year watched Kenan Sofuoglu win Honda and Ten Kate their sixth consecutive championships. “It shows again that a private team, with good support from a manufacturer, can win. You do not always need to have full factory support behind you. Of course we have good support from Honda and we are very grateful for it. I never thought that when we started in Thunderbike and Supersport racing all those years ago we would win two championships in one season. We are simple guys, with our feet on the ground. We tried our best, we will celebrate tonight, but then we will be focused on next year. Next year we will still be strong.”

Rolfo praised all involved in his side of the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda garage, but knew things were going to be difficult from the very first laps.

“Today’s races were tough,” said the Turin rider. “I tried my best to get up to the front but everyone was fighting so hard for the last race. Anyway, I have had a good season with Hannspree Ten Kate Honda and I have learned so much. I am happy for James and Kenan and it is great to see the team on top in both championships. They certainly deserve it.”

Fabrizio encountered chatter from his machine in the second race, but a bad start in race one was his main problem.

“In the first race I kicked the bike into gear and the clutch grabbed so my start was not so good,” said Fabrizio “In race two the tyre was starting to go off after a few laps and I had the back end chattering and sliding.”

Muggeridge rode his heart out but with so many slow corner exits to deal with, the lack of electronic controls on his machine finally determined his finishes outside the top ten.

“We invented a setting this morning that didn’t work that well but we improved it this afternoon,” said Muggeridge. “It was still not quite there. Today was a lot better than the rest of the weekend, but it would have been nice to have this setting on Friday or Saturday. With the lack of electronics and grip on the bike, we have no real chance, but I rode as fast and safe as I could. We finished sunny side up both races.”

Morelli was forced out of race one, but recovered to score points in the second, despite suffering some problems.

“In the first race my rear tyre was just finished before the end of the race so I decided to come in and stop and not risk carrying on,” said Morelli, “In race two I had a lot of chatter and had to work hard to keep going fast.”

Tiberio had two good races in front of his home crowd, and after only three rounds in the SBK championship, has scored ten points.

“The second race felt worse for tyres, but my choice,” said Tiberio. “The first race felt like it was better, and I wanted to fight with Karl in race two. He made a small gap and it was impossible to keep with him. We got good points and made an improvement at this race, which I have to be happy about.”