Toseland confident of team status

Toseland said that he expects Yamaha to focus their efforts on works rider Valentino Rossi, but does not believe he will be disadvantaged.

"Yamaha have been open - Valentino Rossi is their number one rider, and rightly so, he is a seven times world champion and five times MotoGP champion," said Toseland in an interview with BBC Radio Five Live.

"But if I can be competitive and be close to him at the front of the races, Yamaha also want to see other riders doing well on their bike to prove that the Yamaha is making the difference and not just Valentino Rossi."

The 27-year-old Briton admitted that his 2008 teammate and fellow former WSBK champion Colin Edwards had sometimes been hampered by his position in the Yamaha hierarchy.

"Colin Edwards has had the difficult job of being Valetino Rossi's teammate, and when development does come through certainly Valentino Rossi does get it first because of his success in MotoGP," Toseland said.

"You're never really sure what kind of package Colin Edwards has had. It's difficult on the outside to see if it is even in the garage."

But he remains confident that he will not suffer the kind of problems that some of his compatriots have faced when trying to switch from Superbikes to MotoGP in recent years.

"The other British riders who have had a go, like Neil Hodgson, Chris Walker and Shane Byrne, because of their age and the time in their career, they've had to go for the first option that they've had," he said.

"Unfortunately it's not been the bike or the package to be competitive on. You only get one chance at the top and if you have a slight disadvantage, or you're not competitive for one reason or another, you go back down the ladder and it's very difficult to climb back up.

"I've got a chance with a great team and a great bike, and hopefully that will be the difference."

Toseland believes he owes his MotoGP opportunity partly to fellow Superbike star Troy Bayliss' win in the 2006 MotoGP finale, when he led from lights to flag at Valencia in a one-off appearance for Ducati in place of the injured Sete Gibernau.

According to Toseland, this result changed the MotoGP paddock's perceptions of the WSBK field.

"The MotoGP boys have always said that World Superbike riders are second division and there's always a big battle between them," he said.

"But one thing that really gave us credit last year was the World Superbike champion last year - Troy Bayliss - going there and beating them in the final race in a one-off race.

"That really gave us all credit, and it's also one of the reasons why I've been given the amount of credit to go to MotoGP - because I've been beating Troy Bayliss.

"I'm going to go there as the underdog I'm sure, but I don't mind that. I'm in a great team with Tech 3 and Yamaha, on an official bike. We've got every chance to do well, and it's about time we did."