600cc in capacity, all the motorbikes will be running specially manufactured Honda engines and will have electronic control units to manage the amount of rider aids that the riders can use. It really should be back down to racing at it purist, when it is the team that has made the best use of their product design opportunities to design and construct the perfect chassis and the rider, who muscles the motorcycle around the tight and twisty tracks.

The teams have been frantically working away over the winter to perfect their chassis setup and manufacture new aerodynamic fairing casings to assist the rider with obtaining a greater top speed when tucked in during qualifying and the race.

Of course all of this work is good news for the motorcycle industry. In effect all of these teams are performing live testing for the manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki. I’m sure with a little bit of persuasion and a little bit of money, some of the designs that we see competing on the track this year, could be featuring on the roads in 2011 or 2012.

The basis for the new formula is to have a standardised 600cc Honda engine, which will in effect be similar to that of the CBR600RR engine with some slight performance tweaks. Another standard component will be the tyres which will all be Dunlop, as was similar in the 250cc formula which preceded it.

With standard tyres and engines, the only area where teams can gain an advantage is through hiring the correct rider and also by producing the perfect chassis to house the engine. Several team have already spent large sums of money evaluating the benefit of different product design ideas and chassis’ over the winter to bolster their overall position and move them to the front of the pack.

It is obviously a risky strategy to take as no one is quite sure how these new engines will handle in the chassis. At the first official test for the new series it was a former Honda CBR600RR used in World Supersport that managed to lap the circuit at Valencia quickest as opposed to all the new developments. However, that isn’t to suggest that the other teams won’t fight back with more advanced, lighter and more efficient product design ideas that will propel them to the front of the field in 2010.

Whatever happens and whoever is up the front when the season kicks off, one thing is for sure and that is that it is set to be one of the most exciting and entertain seasons for some time. Racing in the 250cc class had become a little stale, as the gap between the front teams and everyone else was so massive. Now with the playing field levelled, rider talent and product design is set to shine through once more.