Manufacturers have been rolling out the latest in superbike machinery this month, with the much-anticipated 2017 Honda CBR1000RR SP and SP2 officially breaking cover at Intermot in Germany alongside the final version of Suzuki’s latest GSX-R1000 and GSX-R1000R models.

On top of that, Kawasaki has confirmed it will expand its range with a ZX-10RR from next year, which adds to the ‘homologation special’ resurgence that we’re currently witnessing in the Superbike World Championship.

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Long story short, homologation specials are on the way back in because as of this year manufacturers have only been required to build 500 units of a particular bike in order to use it in the production-based WorldSBK series.

A few years ago they were required to build at least 2000 units of a particular model if they were to enter WorldSBK, then it was reduced to 1000 in 2015 (resulting in bikes such as the YZF-R1M and current CBR1000RR SP).

It’s really sparked some added excitement into the sportsbike market and, regardless, it’s refreshing to see the manufacturers collectively starting to push forward once again in development. The new Honda and Suzuki brings them up to par with the latest from Yamaha, Kawasaki and the leading Euros.

WorldSBK is facing a number of challenges at the moment under the operation of Dorna according to reports out of Europe, while MotoGP booms in comparison. But here in Australia, we’ve always seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for the production series – even if it’s been difficult without an Aussie on a top bike of late.

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Personally, I’m a major fan of WorldSBK and I tune into Fox Sports with just as much interest as I do MotoGP on any given race weekend. I also largely enjoy attending the Australian round at Phillip Island, which we’re fortunate enough to have as the season-opener.

As of the 2017 season we will hopefully see a further boost for the series off the back of all the new bikes – I know for the local distributors – even if Suzuki doesn’t field a factory WorldSBK team – it will mark one of the most important occasions of the entire year, getting amongst the die-hard superbike fans on home soil.