As the World Superbike paddock is being set up at the Nurburgring on what proved to be an extremely cold, wet and windy Thursday, the main media interest surrounded the recent performances of 35-year-old Spanish rider Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and 25-year-old Max Neukirchner (Alstare Suzuki) from Germany, currently lying second and third in the championship standings. Checa came away from the last round at Miller Motorsports Park with a double win and 50 points and this, coupled with two DNF finishes and zero points for the championship leader Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), have helped to reshuffle the cards in the points standings, even though Bayliss still has a 28 point lead. Neukirchner, who had scored his first WSBK win two rounds before at Monza, has twice since been on the podium in second place.