Stoner: Worry? What worry?

The 22-year-old Australian stormed to the Moto GP world title with ten wins last season with Ducati on Bridgestones, while Rossi struggled to match him on his Michelin-tyred Yamaha.

But, despite Rossi having now secured a switch to the Japanese rubber for his Yamaha, Stoner is not any more worried about the inevitable onslaught than he would have been otherwise.

"I'm not afraid of the fact that Valentino is on Bridgestones," said Stoner as Ducati's new Desmosedici GP08 was launched at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy.

"We saw at the first test, there was nothing in particular very special, but we will have to see as the season goes on.

"I'm very happy with the way Bridgestone have worked, they've given me a great opportunity, and I think they will continue to work in the same system this year."

Such was Rossi's disgust at Ducati's domination in 2007, he convinced Yamaha to request a switch to Bridgestone for the coming season and, when the Japanese rubber supplier said "no", took his appeal to series chiefs Dorna.

Dorna then submitted a proposal for a single-tyre supplier, which neither Bridgestone nor Michelin were keen on, but which was sufficient to get the former to relent on. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo will use Michelins however.

Stoner has a new team-mate this season with Marco Melandri replacing fellow Italian Loris Capirossi at the team.