Andrew Pitt: He will be trying hard to put the last couple of seasons behind him. He is a rider who is consistent and on his day can be fast. He's a demon braker - sometimes it works for him, sometimes it doesn't.
Garry McCoy: My new team-mate at FPR has had a hard off-season and has worn his thumbs out playing Playstation whilst recovering from an unfortunate off at a test in Valencia. At Qatar I honestly hope he finishes second - behind me!
Norick Abe: I can't really see him affecting the championship too much. He has had good Yamaha equipment before and, if he was going to have done anything, he would have done it by now.
Yukio Kagayama: Although he is on a Suzuki it's going to be tough learning so many different circuits, and circuits that are a lot harder to learn than the English ones. This year will test his mettle as a rider.
Frankie Chili: Always fast but last year had a pretty big bike advantage with the 998/999. I would never discount him on his day.
Steve Martin: Has been training hard and is a guy who always gives 100 per cent and never gives up so the other guys should watch out!
In other news, it's been a while since I've been on a race bike, but I have been keeping busy riding my KTM 450 and my little trials bike, a Beta Rev3. I was feeling pretty good about the way I've been riding so I entered a trial called Three Bridges for a bit of fun last Saturday.
Sandra videoed me at all the worst moments, like when I was riding a steep embankment section with a log at the top. I had to be caught by the guys I was riding around with because I forgot to turn the fuel on! The worst part was I couldn't blame my pit crew! The other important lesson I learnt that day was don't park your car next to the biggest mud puddle in the paddock…
My 450 KTM is absolutely flying as well and I go to the local track with my mate who works at KTM Richmond. He's a bloody fast rider and we always have a ball, but with a month to go before my first race I tend to slow down a bit and take it a bit easy.
