Despite the fact that he arrived in Italy in torrential rain Andrew Pitt, the reigning world champion and lap record holder at Monza, is determined that this weekend will see him regain his lead in the Supersport championship standings.

'We went pretty well here in the dry last year, setting a new lap record on the way to finishing fourth, so we're pretty sure we've got a good dry setting for the bike,' Said Pitt. 'It's raining heavily now and while it would be good for the fans if the weather were to improve over the next few days, I'm happy enough riding in the wet if it is still raining on Sunday. It’s difficult to predict how the race will go, as slipstreaming tracks such as Monza are always a bit of a lottery, with the result normally being decided on the final lap, but, I'm keen to take back the championship lead and this is as good a place as any to do that.'

For James Ellison, this weekend marks a return to tracks he's raced at before, and the 20-year-old British rider is confident that his circuit knowledge will stand him in good stead at Monza.

'I've been looking forward to Monza since the beginning of the season,' declared Ellison. 'It's an awesome circuit, one of my favourites, and I love racing here. The weather is a bit dismal at the moment, but I like riding in the rain, so I'm not really bothered whether it's wet or dry on Sunday. Now we're back in Europe I'll be racing on tracks I know and I'm determined to kick things off with a good result here this weekend.'

While the Fuchs Kawasaki Supersport riders have both raced at Monza previously, the same isn't true of the team's Superbike pilots. Neither Chris Walker nor Hitoyasu Izutsu's temporary replacement, Eric Bostrom, have ever visited the historic Italian circuit before.

'I've been round the circuit on a scooter and it looks real big and fast, but with some very tight chicanes. In fact, the first chicane doesn't actually look wide enough to get a bike through,' said Walker. 'I've always wanted to race at Monza, it's one of those circuits that looks real fun to race at when you see it on TV. The fact that it's raining could be a problem, as it's a lot more difficult to learn your way around a track in the wet but, hopefully, we'll get at least some dry set-up time before Sunday.'

'I've only ever raced in the wet a handful of times, but it looks as if I'll be getting a lot more experience this weekend,' quipped Bostrom, while peering from the Kawasaki pit garage at a soaking wet pit lane. 'Monza is a new circuit for me, so I'll probably try and follow some of the regular guys around during practice and qualifying to start off with. Hopefully, things will come good before Sunday.'