Strong start for Aprilia

The first round of the 2013 World Superbike Championship took place last week at Philip Island with a six week wait till the next race in April.

It was a great start for Aprilia as their riders took 5 out of the 6 podium positions available across the weekend. Factory Aprilia riders Eugene Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli came away from Australia with joint first position in the championship as they each took home a first and a second place. Michel Fabrizio lies in third in the championship aboard the Red Devils Roma Aprilia, after making it a podium clean sweep for Aprilia in race one. Tom Sykes is currently top Brit, currently sitting in fourth place in the championship after riding throughout the weekend with a broken bone in his wrist.

Championship predictions

With the first race of the World Superbike Championship just around the corner, its that time of year again to throw in predictions for the 2013 World and British Superbike seasons.

The World Superbike championship again sees a strong British contingent with runner up from last year, Tom Sykes most likely to bring the championship home this time around with current champion Max Biaggi retiring from the sport. Melandri will be there or there about's throughout the season but last year showed that he maybe doesn't have the staying power needed to win a championship. The big unknown is Carlos Checa aboard the unproven 1199 Panigale and if the Spaniard can get the speed he was missing last year out of the new Ducati then he will be a very strong championship contender.

In the British Superbike championship it is difficult to look past reigning champion, Shane Byrne who will be going for a record breaking fourth championship aboard the proven PBM Kawasaki ZX10R. Josh Brookes will again mount a serious title challenge while returning James Ellison rides for a strong Shaun Muir-backed Yamaha team and could be many people's favourite to wrestle the championship away from Shane Byrne. Also returning is Kiyonari, if he can get the bike working the way he wants then few would bet against him being in the running come the end of the season.