Max brought some excitement back to WSC

Just a few years ago, World Superbike was reeling. The factory teams, save Ducati, had bailed on the series. MotoGP was rising and apparently at the expense of World Superbike. The Golden Era that saw Superbike racing become the competitive equal of Grand Prix (and without a doubt the more interesting series for observers) was over.

The headline riders like Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards II had bolted to Grand Prix as well, taking much of the star power of the series.

In the US, World Superbike lost its one North American round at Laguna Seca to MotoGP.

Factory teams, riders, and tracks were disappearing from the WSC arsenal. It was clear the Flammini organization needed to radically rebuild the series, if it were to survive.

A funny thing happened on the way to the graveyard. World Superbike got good again.

When the Flamminis announced the new spec tire rules at Laguna Seca years ago, the response was fairly tepid. Michelin and Dunlop (then the suppliers to most of the WSC field) weren't impressed, to say the least, as Pirelli took over.

World Superbike's rebirth was not based on being the de facto four-stroke World Championship, as it once was. It was built on good racing and controlling costs.

Spec tires (the preferred term by those involved in the series is "control tires") may not have provided the lap times initially but what they did do was make for closer racing. The biggest gap in the lap times was having the superior tires limited to just a handful of competitors, said the organizers. That factor was eliminated.

The factory Ducati team dominated for a couple of seasons but eventually challengers arose. The Corona Suzuki team with Troy Corser won the championship in 2005 and the Ten Kate Honda squad has won plenty of races.

Instead of just being a "Ducati show", there are fast Hondas, Suzukis, Yamahas, and Kawasakis in the field these days. Direct involvement by the manus isn't what it was in the late '90s, but there is considerably more factory interest and help (via the front and back doors) in World Superbike than there was a few years ago.

As for star power, Troy Bayliss is back and the series even has Max Biaggi. Max Biaggi! With the development of the series' existing riders like James Toseland and the field has become quite respectable.

There are still issues to be solved, namely the Ducati 1200cc question and getting more of an American involvement in the series.

Still, the situation is pretty good for a series that was once on the brink of disaster.