SUPERBIKE legend Carl Fogarty could be on the verge of a move to the MotoGP world championship.

Team boss Fogarty has been exploring his options for 2007 after it was confirmed that his Foggy Petronas outfit would fold at the end of the season.

And the Blackburn-based four-times champion took the opportunity to meet up with MotoGP bosses at last weekend's British round at Donington Park.

"I had a meeting with Carmelo Ezpeleta, who runs MotoGP, and discussed a few options," said Fogarty, who celebrated his 40th birthday at the same time.

"They want me in the MotoGP paddock, but so do the World Superbike organisers, and the same goes with the British Superbike Championship promoters who would like to see me racing in this country.

"I'm such a big name in the sport, thanks to the WSB, but I don't know what the MotoGP people think of me.

"I'm a bit like Marmite, you either love me or hate me! All I know is that all I felt at Donington was love."

Fogarty's decision rests on two factors: how much sponsorship he can raise and what make of bikes he can lease. And the two are interlinked.

Manufacturers want to know how much money is available and sponsors will only commit once they know which bikes are available to the team.

He is known to have spoken to Honda, Yamaha and Ducati at Donington, but much depends on what specification of machine, if any, they can offer.

It isn't the first time Fogarty has been linked with MotoGP, either as a rider when he notched up four world titles, or as a team owner following his retirement in 2000.

"We have a few things in the pipeline with sponsorship, but we won't know for definite until later in the year, so I don't know where things will go," he added.

"I only want to do MotoGP if we can be in the top 10 and in a position to challenge," added Fogarty, who has endured a morale-sapping final season in World Superbikes with the under-performing FP1 bike.

"I only enjoy being at the front, so it has to be right for me to get some enjoyment out of it. I'm really trying to secure a future for Foggy Racing."

l MotoGP organisers are set to make a dramatic shake-up of next year's rider line-up, with a trio of British riders likely to feature.

Former WSB champion James Toseland, British Superbike front-runner Leon Haslam and Irishman Jeremy McWilliams could all be on the grid.

Despite record television viewing figures and spectator attendance at every round, just 18 bikes contested last weekend's race at Donington, the problem fuelled by the spiralling costs of running a team in the sport's premier class.

Dorna, the Italian company that runs MotoGP is anxious to get that figure up to 22, despite the fact that major Japanese manufacturers like Kawasaki and Suzuki are looking hard at the financial sums involved.