Yamaha supremely confident

Meregalli's Motor Italia squad will run Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga (pictured) this season.

And he believes his duo, on their new for 2007 R1s, will knock last year's dominators Troy Bayliss and Ducati from their perch at the top of the sport.

"We are going to win the title," said Meregalli. "That is our aim."

Yamaha won only twice last season, with a victory apiece for Andrew Pitt and Haga as they finished fifth and third overall.

But preparations for the coming season have been going well recentley, despite a slow start.

"[We've been] a little delayed, but we know that. We are preparing for the last test at Qatar and are using 2006 forks, headers and unpainted fairings," he added. "But for the first race everything will be in place and we will be ready to play our cards.

"The bike is already competitive but we still don't know everything it can do and so therefore we have good hopes for more improvements."

The arrival of Australian rider Corser is a major boost to Yamaha, who can now boast a rider line-up that has amassed 53 wins between them.

But despite Corser having two world titles to Haga's zero, Meregalli's denied that there would be any team orders this season.

"Absolutely not," he added. "Corser and Haga are on the same level and will always get the same developments. Clearly if only one of the two is the only one in a position to fight for the title, then a hierarchy would become clear. But at the present time it's not an issue."