WSBK round 7 marked the halfway point in the championship, which so far has seen our boys in red sitting within the top five riders on the leader board. A standing that is all important at this point as the remaining races get ticked off over the coming months and the top contenders vie for points.

Brno, situated in the Czech Republic played host to this weekends proceedings, resulting in some highs and lows that kept fans glued to the action.

Team Aruba.it started the ritual in the usual way by getting in some all-so-important practise on Friday, where, despite the changeable weather, the team worked hard to tweak the Panigale R.

Marco had his sights on the top spot until an unfortunate restart occurred when fellow team mate Michael Rinaldi took a tumble. Lucky for Michael, he and the bike were ok and was able to start again, albeit at the back of the grid.

Melandri, now slightly on the back foot and experiencing grip issues, he struggled to hold second but with a determined mindset he kept his nerve until the chequered flag.

"It's always nice to be on the podium, but track conditions today were really tricky. We lacked grip and the bike understeered...Still, we can be happy because we managed a difficult situation quite well" - Marco Melandri

Unfortunately for Chaz he was plagued with issues similar to Marco but in fear of losing control and dropping out completely, he lowered the pace, coming in 8^th .

Race two saw fates reversed with Marco running wide on a corner due to a rear brake issue; resulting in a 15^th place. Ironically, he took the fastest lap time of 2.00.176

Chaz on the other hand scooped third, keeping hot on the tail of the lead riders. A much-needed boost in confidence for the team.

"We finally made a step forward after a difficult couple of days…We want to do better, but I'm really happy to be back on the podium. It's important for the morale of the team, and we'll keep plugging away without giving up. This is my 'thank you' to my crew, who worked so hard. We recovered some points on our rivals but the priority is to get the feeling back 100 percent and hopefully we'll take it to the next level soon." - Chaz Davies

Rinaldi also had good fortunes and rode the best race of his short WSBK career. Showing his raw talent and finishing in 6^th certainly shows to the world that he is one to watch in the future.

"This is a great way to finish what's been a tough weekend, with my best result of the year so far.

Round 8 sees the championship go state side; Laguna Seca June 22-24