FOUR times World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty is making a comeback to the world of competitive motorcycle racing by agreeing to ride for CCM in a Supermoto exhibition event called "Superbiker" at Mettet in Belgium on the October 13/14.

Supermoto racing is in its infancy in the UK but is massive on the continent regularly attracting over 15,000 spectators at an event.

The Mettet event is planned to be the largest Supermoto meeting ever held with expected crowds of 20,000 to 30,000 coming to see Foggy race against the cream of the European Supermoto circuit.

European Supermoto is a high thrills mixture of tarmac and motocross jumps all thrown together in a series of races each lasting around 12 minutes.

There is no doubt that such an appearance by Foggy will help stimulate an already growing interest in the UK in Supermoto (or Supermotard as it is known on the continent) both as a sport and style of riding.

This will be Carl's first return to any form of competitive racing since he retired from the World Superbike scene after injuring his shoulder at Phillip Island in Australia last year.

Regrettably, his shoulder injury has ruled out a return to Superbike racing but the injury is much less of a handicap in Supermoto due to the upright riding position of this style of motorcycle.

He will be riding a special works prepared CCM 604E Supermoto. This may not come as a total surprise to some keen observers who have caught glimpses of Carl practicing at some of CCM's Supermoto track days.

His wife Michaela is also a shareholder in CCM and makes regular appearances promoting the company.

"I have spent a lot of time practicing and I know more about suspension and tyre set-up for them than I ever did about superbikes. And I know that I'll be just as competitive and want to ride as fast as I can, even though it's not my sport," said Fogarty.

"With my shoulder injury it's the only real racing that I can do at the moment. I can't ride superbikes since the accident because of the position I need to get in. But a supermoto is more upright so it's not so much of a

problem and I work different parts of the body," he added.