Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo knows he will be pushed hard for the 2013 title by fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa but admits he has been surprised by the testing pace of Marc Marquez and his own Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi.

The Mallorcan rider, who has quietly gone about the job of being fastest in testing without actually topping the timesheets, is expecting a scrap this year and it starts with the season opener at Qatar this weekend.

“I am very excited to return to Qatar and begin the season. The testing has been good, we have good pace and we are quite happy with our performance. We still have some areas to improve but our situation is not so bad compared to our competitors and I think we can fight for the win," said Lorenzo.

Jerez was a good point for us after testing in Austin; that was a new circuit where maybe we haven’t yet found a perfect feeling. In Jerez we were able to make a long run and all the Yamahas were on top; that gave us some extra motivation before travelling to Qatar. It also shows that every track is different and it’s going to be an exciting Championship.

"I want to keep the crown but it’s going to be hard. There are some great riders this year, I was surprised by Marquez’ pace and also with Valentino on his return to Yamaha. Dani is also so strong after the last part of the 2012 season. We will fight really hard from the first race, I believe we are in good shape for that.

"Losail is a track where we usually find a difficult track surface, plenty of sand and because of that it is always very tough with the tyres. We will see how we can perform there. I am feeling very fit and ready so I want to start.”