With the preliminaries all over, the focus now turns to the real business of racing when the season kicks off with the 2010 Yamaha Phillip Island Superbike World Championship at Victoria’s world famous circuit this weekend on 26-28 February.

Wednesday’s media conference, high above Melbourne at the Eureka Skydeck, saw the Victorian Government confirm their long term commitment to World Superbike racing and the leading riders including Australians Troy Corser and Chris Vermeulen, Britain’s James Toseland, Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea and Japan’s Nori Haga. predicting their fortunes for the 2010 Superbike World Championship.

The anticipation is enormous heading into the 23rd year of the production-based four-stroke title, with a number of new riders on the grid, some old warriors returning to the class, and a staple of existing top guns who will refuse to concede an inch.

Australia has the largest representation since 2005, courtesy of dual world champion Troy Corser (BMW), Chris Vermeulen (Kawasaki), Andrew Pitt (BMW) and Broc Parkes (Honda) – although the latter will be replaced at Phillip Island by compatriot Josh Brookes after recently breaking his tibia in a training accident.

Vermeulen is returning to World Superbike after four years in MotoGP, and Pitt after a three-year exile during which time he won his second World Supersport title in 2008.

The international offensive will be led by Japanese veteran and reigning world number two Haga on the factory Ducati.

The remaining factory riders will be Michel Fabrizio (Ducati), Cal Crutchlow and Toseland (Yamaha), Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki), Vermeulen and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki), Rea and Max Neukirchner (Honda), Corser and Ruben Xaus (BMW), as well as Max Biaggi and Leon Camier (Aprilia).

But don’t discount the four sharp-shooting Ducati privateers of Shane Byrne, Carlos Checa, Jakub Smrz and Lorenzo Lanzi, who all impressed in testing at Phillip Island last Sunday and Monday.

It all adds up to what Vermeulen believes is going to make for a gripping season, beginning this Sunday.

“Realistically there are 15 or 16 riders who could win a World Superbike race this year. It’s not going to be easy at all, and the depth is the strongest I’ve seen in a long time,” said Vermeulen. “But for sheer championship presence you can never write off someone like Noriyuki Haga, especially if he wakes up on the right side of the bed.”

Exactly 26 riders will compete in the 2010 championship, with 11 of them already World Superbike race winners.

But no-one has more World Supers wins at Phillip Island than Corser, who is a seven-time victor around the 4.445km track, including clean sweeps in 1999 and 2005.

The Wollongong rider also holds the current lap record, having a special affinity with the venue.

“For me the weekend on Phillip Island is always something special as it’s my home race,” said Corser. “I think I can speak for the majority of the riders when I say that Phillip Island is one of the best circuits around.

“I always hugely enjoy competing there — and not only because it’s my home track. From a rider’s point of view, the circuit flows very nicely, and safety levels are very high.

“Every year I look forward to the annual ‘Corser weekend’ at the track. My family, friends and a lot of guys from back in New South Wales come along to support me. The atmosphere’s just great.”

Corser is working assiduously to eradicate his BMW’s ‘nervousness’ over bumps, but he was still the leading Aussie at the two-day test session on 21-22 February, with Fabrizio the fastest from Byrne and Smrz, the trio all eclipsing Corser’s lap record.

The only other Phillip Island race winners in the field, Haga and Toseland, finished up sixth and 12th respectively.

Just 1.239secs separated the top 17 riders at the test, setting the scene for what should be two extremely hard-fought 22-lap slip-streaming battles to kick off the season.

However, if the weather turns sour, wet-weather guru Vermeulen could really be the one to watch, having previously scored a MotoGP podium at Phillip Island in 2006 in adverse conditions.

“The test went pretty well and we made some significant improvements,” said Vermeulen. “We concentrated mainly on the chassis set-up and tyre life and found a good base setting for the race.

“The conditions this morning (on day two) meant we lost a bit of track time, but hopefully we’ll make up for that on Friday during free practice. We still have some work to do, but I’m looking forward to the weekend and challenging for the top five.”

Vermeulen, like Pitt and Brookes, is a former World Supersport winner at Phillip Island, but is yet to open his World Superbike account at home.

Haga and eventual champion Ben Spies (Yamaha) won last year’s WSBK races at Phillip Island, with Neukirchner and Haslam also finishing on the podium.

2010 will be the 19th year Phillip Island has hosted a world superbike round with the world’s leading production bike racers making the annual pilgrimage since 1991, and only missing one year – 1993 – over the past two decades.

In World Supersport, the Phillip Island test saw the cream rise to the top, with Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) the pacesetter from Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) and Eugene Laverty (Honda). The triumvirate are expected to again set the pace in Sunday’s 21-lap race.

Action kicks off Friday with Super Friday and a chance to meet the riders in the morning followed by afternoon practice and first qualifying, Saturday will see grids finalised in the three stage knockout Superpole, before Sunday’s racing boasts two 22-lap World Superbike races.

World Supersport also features with one 21- lap race on Sunday, with further action from the opening round of the Australian Superbike, Superstock 1000, Supersport and Superstock 600 championships plus the historic bikes of yesteryear. In total, 13 races over three days means plenty of bike action.

Visit www.phillipislandcircuit.com.au or tel the Toll Free Superbike Hot Line on 1300 728 007 to purchase tickets for the weekend.