“Well the waiting’s over and I’m fired up to go racing again. It’s going to be a proud moment lining up with that number one plate on the front of my bike - it’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. But really that’s last year’s story and we’ve got to come out of the gate fast and fight to defend this title right from the first session because the competition in MotoGP is so intense. There’s no time to take the glory and relax.

We were quick in some of the tests over the winter and made some good progress with this new bike, though the test here at Qatar didn’t go too smoothly! So I’m going to have to raise my game starting this weekend. Nevertheless, it’s actually a track I quite like and I had a pretty good race here last season. There are a couple of long right-handers that are fun to ride and I really like the sequence of turns one, two and three with the banking.

I’ve had a third place here and was second last year so we’ll be aiming to go one better on Saturday. I’ve faith in the boys in my corner and I’m working really well with Pete Benson and the rest of the crew. Plus I know Honda’s going to be giving everything to keep this crown so we won’t be holding anything back.

The shoulder’s pretty much fixed up now and, though I haven’t got all the movement back, it’s plenty strong enough to ride the bike - we’ve put in a lot of miles since the operation and it’s felt stronger every time. I’m feeling ready for the lights to go out and looking forward to going toe to toe with the boys again.”