Just to clear a few things up

Modern 250 Two strokes do not have a ridiculously short engine life anymore. Apart from having to change the top end every 250 miles or so cranks last 1000 miles minimum and providing the owner/mechanic knows how to set the bike up they are pretty reliable bikes these days.
The costs of running one are not like they were in the 80's (which most people keep reffering too) where cranks,cylinders etc were having to be thrown at them every two mins. In fact , it is much cheaper to run a top 250 now than it is to run a tuned 600 and it is this fact that is attracting a lot of people to the class.

The MRO 250 Series is no more, the grids were pretty poor this year and the grid space has gone to something else. I must add that the MRO grids were pretty poor in general this year which I beleive was down to no prize money and no TV coverage.

People not involved with two-stroke racing will have no idea as to the amount of work that has gone into getting an 'as good as it currently gets' national championship again and the interest from competitors and potential sponsors is very very good.

Finally, the bikes.....
There are so many good 250's in the UK with more arriving all the time from Japan and Europe. The main UK suppliers of Yamaha's and Honda's have I beleive already sold their quota for next year due to the revived interest in people wanting to race GP machines rather than production bikes however, Honda/Yamaha usually have a second production run depending on demand. With each new bike you get enough spares to run you for an entire season so they are pretty cost effective too.These bikes dont go to moto gp as they would not be competitive. With the exception of some of the wild card riders all 250's in moto gp (and the 'customer Aprilia's.....') most are hand built bikes with some factory support. The good thing in my view is that since 2003 both Yamaha and Honda have contined with the same spec base model bikes with only the 'kit parts' which are widely available being developed year on year. This gives anyone wanting to have a go at a proper 250 championship the ability to afford a bike that can be competitive without having to get the latest bike year in year out like 600's/1000's.

Please dont start knocking the new series for proper bikes before its had a chance to start, with a bit of luck it will do really well and more importantly give good talented 125 riders somewhere decent to go where they might get noticed rather than being at the back of a national 600 grid.

Cheers

Neil