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In the distance I can hear the engines revving, then before my eyes like a mirage the silhouettes of grid girls start emerge, and then on the air my nostrils detect the the sweet mixture of fuel, sweat and leather… it can only mean one thing! The reason why millions of us around the globe get down on one knee on a Sunday morning finally arrives as the winter hibernation ends, motorcycle racing is set to return. No more season reviews or ‘classic’ races replayed to fill air-time on Sunday afternoon. No, it is time for weekends to get interesting again as the motorcycle racing season kicks off with the World Superbikes first round on the 28th February. For a refresher of how Ben Spies arrived (then left for MotoGP) and firmly set his mark on World Superbikes just have a quick watch of the Yamaha 2009 season review below

This years calender is as follows:

CALENDAR & CIRCUITS SBK 2010

Round 1: 27 Feb-28 Feb from Australia
Round 2: 27 Mar-28 Mar from Portugal
Round 3: 10 Apr-11 Apr from Spain
Round 4: 24 Apr-25 Apr from Holland
Round 5: 08 May-09 May from Italy
Round 6: 15 May-16 May from South Africa
Round 7: 30 May-31 May from USA
Round 8: 25 Jun-27 Jun from San Marino
Round 9: 10 Jul-11 Jul from Czech Republic
Round 10: 31 Jul-01 Aug from Great Britain
Round 11: 04 Sep-05 Sep from Germany
Round 12: 25 Sep-26 Sep from Italy
Round 13: 02 Oct-03 Oct from France

This season we will also see the return of two time WSBK World Champion James Toesland (JT) after his attempt to replicate similar results in MotoGP failed. Ben Spies is now on his MotoGP ride while JT is taking the spot left by Ben. Knowing James he has what is takes to be soon back to the top, though with lots of fresh blood in WSBK mixed with the likes of JT and long time favourites like Haga…well…this is going to be one exciting ride! To be kept fully up-to-date on all the news and want to see this years teams or simply want more information then I recommend the official World Superbike Website. There is a wealth of information there to fill your time before the first round kicks off on the 27th.

How long then after that before the next hit of motorcycle racing? Well the AMA restarts in the USA from March 3rd, with the AMA Round 2 following from the 27th and the WSBK Round 2 joining it on the 28th! British Superbikes will not be back until the 29th March, though the premier motorcycle racing class, MotoGP will be back from the 10th of April. Excited yet?

Peace and keep the rubber side down