Traction control rife in Qatar.

The surprise occurrence in World Superbikes this weekend at Qatar was the 200bhp+ WSBK machines and their level of rear wheel sliding out of corners - or lack of it.

This year sees the most powerful Superbikes ever take to the field with some of the four-cylinder machines rumoured to produce nearly 220bhp. Why then, at the first round of the championship at possibly the most slippery track of the calendar, were none of the front running rider's rear tyres being slid out of the corners.

Last season it was obvious the riders had more than enough power to instigate a beautifully controlled power slide, it would be thought with more power this year that it would have been a more regular occurrence. However, there was little or none of this taking place at the first race of the 2005 season.

The first indication that many of the machines - namely the Suzukis, factory Ducatis and Yamahas - were using traction control was the lack of rear wheel sliding. The second indication was the hovering engine note whilst the bikes exited the fast sweeping corners. This was due to the traction control kicking in to limit the engine's revs momentarily as the rear tyre loses traction.

British teams have already admitted that a traction control system is used by Ducati and also Yamaha, who have a bolt-on kit available for any of its racing customers.

It is not known exactly how the respective manufacturers chose to restrict the amount of power going to the rear wheel, although restriction of engine revs is possibly the easiest and simplest way.

Control of this could possibly happen using the front and rear wheel speed sensors. If there is a considerable difference in the two wheel speeds, the ECU will limit the opening of the throttle bodies, restricting the amount of air and fuel mixture entering the engine and thus stopping the revs from rising.

However with the advent of a GPS telemetry sensor, making it able for teams to plot exactly where their rider is on track, and rumours of teams developing big-bang Superbike engines, there is likely to be a great jump in technological development in the foreseeable future with these traction control systems, seen in action in Qatar, being a simple but effective starting point.