Qatar MotoGP: Valentino Rossi wary of premier class rookies

Valentino Rossi has admitted he will start his quest to regain the MotoGP world championship in Qatar on Sunday wary of the threat posed by the likes of premier class newcomers such as James Toseland and Jorge Lorenzo.

The 29-year-old Italian believes the number of challengers at the front in MotoGP will be increased on 2007 based on the close lap times from winter testing.

The Fiat Yamaha rider said: “Last year a lot of times it was me, Dani (Pedrosa) and Casey (Stoner), but this year it looks like we have more rivals because a lot of rookies go very well in the tests.

“Maybe the battle is more open and the number of riders fighting for the victory is more, so we expect a good fight.

“Seeing the performance and tests times, it seems like all people who didn’t use the 990cc bike are already very fast with 800 because these bikes are a lot more similar to 250, so all the rookie coming from 250 are already fast. Also (James) Toseland is very fast.

The Italian might think that the number of riders capable of mounting a challenge is increased, but he is in no doubt that Aussie Casey Stoner is the biggest threat to his hopes of winning the MotoGP title for the first time since 2005.

Rossi added: “Last year Casey was good more or less every race, so we have to improve a lot.

“We worked very well in the winter and the championship is long, and we haven’t ridden at 100 per cent at this moment.”