Haydon and team-mate Troy Corser are getting ready for Valencia

The chief engineer of Carl Fogarty's new Foggy Petronas Racing team is confident it will be competitive at the start of the new World Superbikes season.

Steve Thompson has been overseeing testing over the past three weeks at Phillip Island in Australia and Sepang in Malaysia.

Riders Troy Corser and James Haydon will make their debuts for the team on 2 March when the season gets under way in Valencia.

"Overall we are encouraged by the last few weeks of testing and now really feel that we are on target with development of the Foggy FP1," said Thompson.

"We were about one second off race pace in Phillip Island and completed our first race distance simulations successfully.

"The bike and chassis continued to perform very well as well, even with the increased engine power."

Testing has made us confident that we have a competitive package Foggy chief engineer Steve Thompson

Thompson was pleased with how the bikes and riders coped with the higher temperatures in Malaysia.

He stressed the team will be working "flat out" to make more modifications in the next few weeks to ensure a successful start to the season.

"We are setting our sights high but are realistic that winning races may not come immediately," Thompson added.

"However, the last three weeks of testing have made us confident that we have a competitive package.

"For what is still a relatively early stage in the development of the race bike, I am very happy that we are on target with the progress achieved in Australia and Malaysia."

The team's participation in this season's championship was rubber-stamped when the sport's world governing body, the FIM, announced the FP1 bike had passed homologation tests.

The test is to ensure that the bike is not a one-off - 75 road-going bikes have now been produced.