Rossi upbeat despite Stoner's form

The Italian is well aware that reigning champion Casey Stoner is heading into the new campaign as favourite for another title, thanks to impressive winter testing times on his Ducati, but Rossi remains upbeat about his own chances.

"Generally I'm very happy and excited that we have finally reached the first race," he said. "It's been a long time since Valencia 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."

The first race of the year will throw up some new challengers for the riders and teams, with the entire Qatar event running at night. But Rossi thinks racing after dark will not be a cause for concern.

"Speaking about the night race, after the last test I am quite relaxed about this," he said. "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.

"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."