SUPERBIKE legend Carl Fogarty insists it's crunch time for the Foggy FP1 as the countdown to the new racing season begins in earnest.

After a difficult debut year, Foggy Petronas Racing are hoping to strike upon a winning formula when the revamped World Superbike Series gets underway in Valencia this weekend.

And Fogarty believes his team are about to discover just how competitive their Foggy FP1 will ever be following a busy winter of redevelopment.

Last season, the three-cylinder FP1 suffered from a lack of power and reliability issues, which prevented the team from making their mark in the championship.

That meant they went into the winter facing a massive engine redevelopment programme to overcome the problems.

Although the new engine is unlikely to be ready until the fourth round of the championship in May, Fogarty is still looking at the next eight months as a make or break period in the development of the 900cc machine, especially at a time when the whole sport is going through a major transformation.

"I think we are going to know this year just how good this thing is ever going to be," said Fogarty.

"This is a big, big year for us and we should know by June or July just what this bike is capable of.

"The reliability issues should get sorted out and it's now a case of re-designing a few things on the next stage engine which should be ready for the fourth round.

"After that, it's down to Petronas and what they want to do next.

"But I just want to see us on the podium this year because it's been a while since I was there."

This year's championship is already gearing up to be one of the most exciting for some time.

After Neil Hodgson's dominance of the title-race last year, there are 10 riders who could realistically claim his crown this time around, and that includes three Brits - James Toseland, Leon Haslam and Chris Walker, the man brought in to replace James Haydon by Foggy Petronas during the winter.

Walker, four times a runner-up in the British Superbike Series, is one of the most popular riders the UK has ever produced and his naturally aggressive style seems well suited to the FP1.

"If I could have taken my pick of all the British riders then Chris would have been the guy I would have gone for," said Fogarty.

"He will get the best out of the bike because he will ride the wheels off it and his style is more suited to it than anyone else.

"As soon as he jumped on it for the first time, he seemed to click straight away.

"I think he's going to push Troy Corser very hard this season. He's the best rider we could have possibly got on board."

Fogarty has already ruled out a title-assault for his fledgling team as the FP1 is down on power compared to its Ducati V-twin rivals.

But the Blackburn bullet is predicting a tight battle for the championship, especially as WSB bosses have brought in controversial rule changes such as the new one-make Pirelli tyre rule which are designed to make the series more competitive.

"The rule changes don't really affect me or the team," said Fogarty.

"Maybe it's just a way of doing something to make the championship more appealing or competitive.

"As for the championship, it's a lot more open this year because more people seem to have better bikes.

"Last season, you knew who the top two were going to be from day one but this year there seems to be more riders in contention.

"Obviously, the factory Ducati team with Regis Laconi and James Toseland will start as the favourites but there are three other teams with exactly the same bikes.

"That probably doesn't suit us because it makes the championship even more competitive than before, but at the end of the day, you still want to beat everyone else who's out there and that's what we will be aiming to do.

"Our goal is to do better than last season. I want to finish higher up the Manufacturers' leaderboard and we want to see both of our riders finishing in the top ten."