Rossi ready for opening battle.

Monday, 3rd March 2008

"I'm very happy and excited that we have finally reached the first race... Yamaha have worked very hard over the winter and our new bike is very good" - Valentino Rossi.

After two very different title defeats, to Nicky Hayden
and then Casey Stoner, five times MotoGP
world champion
Valentino Rossi

heads to the 2008 season opener - and first ever night race - 'happy and excited', despite a tough test at the same Losail circuit just a few days ago.

The Fiat Yamaha star, who will also make his much anticipated Bridgetone
race debut on Sunday, was openly disappointed after struggling to find the optimum rubber - and therefore set-up - for the cool night time conditions found during last week's inaugural night test.

"I think they have done an excellent job with the lights and it's really true that you can ride just the same as you can by day," said Rossi of the unique racing conditions. "The biggest problem is of course the temperature, because it's very cold by night and this makes our work, especially with the tyres, much harder."

However, Rossi was strong at the two previous winter tests and looks to have all the ingredients in place to consistently challenge the formidable Stoner/ Ducati
partnership in 2008.

"As Valentino said, the biggest problem for us is the temperature but this is the same for everyone so we just have to do our best in the circumstances," stated team manager Davide Brivio. "Our pre-season in general has gone very well; Valentino was very fast in Sepang and Jerez and he has improved as expected each test as we become more used to working with the tyres and as we have improved the settings for the new bike.

"We had some unexpected problems in Qatar and therefore we will have to make the most of the four hours of practice to fix those, but we have some ideas and I am confident we will be ready."

Stoner and Ducati were more than ready at Qatar one year ago, when the young Australian stunned the MotoGP world by overturning Rossi's pole position to win the first race of the 800cc era, on his Desmosedici debut.

A further nine rounds then fell to the young Australian, while Rossi tasted victory on just four occasions and was left third in the points - his worst ever premier-class placing - after a technical problem, while riding injured, at the very final race of the year.

This year, Stoner heads to Qatar as the man to beat - but with Rossi now on the same brand of tyres and riding a machine with no obvious weakness, in contrast to the underpowered 2007 M1.

"Generally I'm very happy and excited that we have finally reached the first race," said the 29-year-old, effectively riding in a one-man team this season. "It's been a long time since Valencia [2007] and I am definitely ready to start a new challenge.

"Yamaha have worked very hard over the winter and our new bike is very good; of course there are some things still to work on and we did have some issues to contend with at the last test, but I am confident that we are in good shape overall.

"I am very happy with my tyres as well and now I just want to get started. We have a big task ahead of us but I know that my team and everyone at Yamaha are up to the job," he concluded.

The unique circumstances surrounding this year's floodlit Qatar event mean that it may not be quite such a concrete indictor of what to expect for the remainder of the season, but the superstitious Rossi will be more than aware that he has won the opening race on each of the five occasions he has won the premier-class title.

A top three finish this weekend would also make Rossi the first rider ever to reach 100 premier-class podiums.