JP: I want a bigger, better BSB.

Despite already being regarded as the biggest domestic superbike series in the world, new commercial rights holder Jonathan Palmer has expressed his desire to make the British Superbike Championship even bigger and better over the coming seasons.

Palmer's Motorsport Vision group will take over the organisation and promotion of the series this year after inking terms on a ten-year deal with the Motorcycle Circuit Racing Control Board which will see the company take over from Dorna Sports, which also holds the commercial rights to MotoGP.

The move will increase MSV's involvement in the series, with the company already playing host to half of the events on the 2008 calendar, and the series will now be run by MSVR, Motorsport Vision's racing division, from its base at Brands Hatch.

Having already improved the facilities at each of his circuits since MSV took over Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Cadwell Park and Snetterton, Palmer now has his sights firmly fixed on improving what is already a strong package in the BSB, and has admitted that securing the commercial rights to the series was a real coup for the company

"It's very exciting indeed," he told Crash.net Radio. "The BSB is Britain's biggest national championship and the gates are even bigger than we see for British Touring Cars. However, it's no surprise as the entertainment on track is outstanding. Bikes, as I found out when I took over the circuits in 2004, do provide fantastic entertainment. They overtake and they obviously have some pretty big moments as well. When a car spins off its one thing but, when someone drops a bike, it's a real heart in the mouth spectacle!

"The riders in it though are such pros and, as a car driver, you have to have such respect for guys who can sit on a bike with 200 horsepower, a contact patch the size of your hand, no downforce and race shoulder-to-shoulder as they do, regardless of the conditions. They are also good with the crowd and I feel it will be a very exciting era for us."

Going into the new era, Palmer added that he has two main goals for the series; to improve the TV package for the benefit of both competitors and fans, and to bring more people through the gates on a race weekend.

"It isn't easy to get the commercial rights to a series and develop them, the main burden being the costs of TV to promote it well," he said. "But that is something we have to deal with and I'm confident that we can move it forward; it's such a great championship. We have to have a strong TV package, but we also have to make sure it works economically. It isn't a case of just buying the most as that is almost certain to lead to higher entry costs and things that aren't necessarily good for the competitors. We have to be careful and find a TV partner who really values BSB, wants to be part of it, really puts some effort into it and wants to help promote it heavily. We also want someone who will make it a logical destination for fans to turn on the TV and find it.

"The real thing we have to drive with BSB is higher attendances at the gate. It is already big, but we want to make it bigger still and we want to bring in bigger TV audiences. To do that, there needs to great racing on track which is even more thrilling and entertaining, and the whole experience of visiting the circuits to see the racing live has to be developed further. It is already very good, but we need to make it better and, if we do that, we will get the top teams, the top manufacturers - which we do have already - and the top riders. The whole thing has to be a mix that works well to everyone."

While the BSB has drawn in the crowds in large numbers over recent years, it has been a case of 'preaching to the converted' to a certain extent, with the majority of fans being bikers themselves with a passion for two-wheels.

Now, heading into his ten years in charge, Palmer said he was keen to try and break down the barriers that seem to exist between fans of two-wheels and fans of four-wheels to take the BSB to a whole new level.

"For some reason, there has been too much inherent segregation between the bike fans and the car fans," he said. "I'm a good example, as I never went to a bike meeting and never would have thought of going to one before MSV bought the circuits. Now, I wouldn't hesitate and I think it's brilliant.

"I attend every BSB event and I think a lot of the car racing fans would really have their eyes opened at how much action you get in bike racing. A lot of it is down to understanding it if you are alien to the sport, so if we can help people understand who the key riders, teams and manufacturers are and get that understanding, then I feel we can start to get an influx of people coming into the sport.

"I want to see the next ten years panning out with BSB underlining itself as the best national bike racing series in the world by a long margin. I want it to be a place where the manufacturers, the teams, the riders and the fans want to be, and a series that the TV viewer will enjoy even more than in the past."