Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi is convinced the upcoming MotoGP season to be even more difficult for him than last year he will be the rider everyone will be out to beat, including his own teammate.
Speaking at the presentation of his new bike, the YZB-M1, the Yamaha rider explained that 2008 ''was a difficult season in which I had to try extra hard to win. This year will be even harder because my rivals will all see me as the man to beat''.
Rossi battled hard last year to win back the premier class which had escaped him for two years running, after he picked up five championships in a row from 2001 to 2005.
In the two-year interval the championship was won first by American Nicky Hayden, riding for Honda, and then by Casey Stoner of Australia, who gave Ducati its first title since it returned to Grand Prix racing in 2003.
Hayden this season will also be riding for Ducati but Rossi said he saw Stoner as his chief rival.
''Casey will probably give me the toughest competition, but I will also have to watch out for (Honda's) Dani Pedrosa, who's very fast, and my own teammate (Jorge) Lorenzo''.
''Lorenzo now has a year's experience with Yamaha under his belt and this year we will all be using the same tires, so he is going to be hard to beat,'' Rossi added.
Last year Rossi opted for Bridgestone tires while his teammate mounted Michelin, the same the Italian rider had used the previous year.
Regulations were changed this year to have all bikes use the same tires to level the playing field and save money.
Looking ahead to the new season, Rossi expressed his disappointment for Kawasaki's decision to quit Gran Prix racing, as a cost-cutting measure, and said that if other teams followed its example ''we are going to have to come up with something to make sure we have enough bikes on the starting grid''.
Turning his attention to his on-again off-again infatuation with Formula 1, Rossi said ''to test drive a Formula 1 Ferrari was an incredible experience. I've always such been a big fan of race cars, and not just rally cars. And I did really well, which made me very happy and showed that I could be fast in Formula 1, too''.
''I had my chance and I decided to stick to motorcycles. It was my decision and there's no going back,'' he added.
Rally racing, on the other hand, was something different and Rossi said he will keep doing it when he can just for the fun of it.
''I've liked it every since I was a kid. It's so much fun that when I stop racing bikes I'll probably dedicate some serious time to it,'' the eight-time world champion said.
