AS THE wife of a former World Superbike champion, Michaela Fogarty admits that she rarely has to dip into in her Versace jeans pocket.

But now Michaela, who met race ace Carl more than 13 years ago, is earning in her own right -- which means the 33-year-old can finally treat her husband.

"For the first time in 13 years I will be able to buy Carl a meal," beamed Michaela, who this week was announced as the new face of Blackburn-based motorcycle manufacturers CCM. "It's an exciting opportunity and is something I am interested in anyway. I can go to work and when I come home talk to Carl about the day I've had."

Since Carl announced his retirement from the sport he dominated for so long, he and Michaela have been twiddling their thumbs at home.

"This is the first time I've worked since Carl retired and it will stop my brain from seizing up," said Michaela. "The job still leaves me loads of time for the children and to still have a life but I needed to keep myself active." By fronting CCM, based at Shadsworth industrial estate, mum-of-two Michaela will use her name and her image to help promote the company and, she hopes, get more bikes roaring out of the shops. After calls for Carl to be honoured for putting Blackburn on the map, it's Michaela's turn to keep the town's name alive in cycle circles.

"There are only two motorcycle manufacturers in the whole of the UK and CCM is one of them," she said. "Pushing CCM as much as we can will be good for Blackburn and I'm really looking forward to working with them."

One of her first jobs will be joining CCM at a bike show at Birmingham's NEC beginning next month. CCM bosses are pushing for their bikes to break into the European market, so assignments in Germany, Italy and France will soon follow.

But before that, pressing matters need to be tackled -- like learning to ride a bike.

"I can ride motorbikes," insists Michaela. "I just haven't got a licence yet, but I'll be doing that very soon."

Her partnership with CCM is not the first time Michaela has used her image to sell motorbikes. Three years ago Carl's sponsors Ducati enlisted Michaela and children Danielle and Claudia in a glamorous advertising campaign.

But with Michaela firmly in the saddle of CCM, Carl himself will be doing promotional work for Ducati -- which could lead to some friendly rivalry.

"There might be times when we are at the same shows, but Ducati make different bikes from CCM," said Michaela. "Carl is all for what I'm doing, probably because I'm earning money for once!"

Austin Clews, a director at CCM, said he was looking forward to the partnership with Michaela and hoped it would be a roaring success.