CARL Fogarty unveiled the brand new Foggy Petronas Racing bike yesterday and vowed: "We want to be the best."

At a lavish lunch in London the motorsport world gathered to see what the Foggy Petronas Racing team that the greatest rider of them all has managed to put together.

And star of the show was the impressive FP1 bike that will carry the team's hopes when finally placed on the grid next month.

Everyone left impressed with the work that the Blackburn legend and his team has done already although he admitted: "The hard work starts now.

"It has been a massive turnout and an incredible response and that is great. We always wanted to start the thing with a big bang and I am very proud of what the guys have done.

"Everyone has been working their socks off for the past six or seven months and there have been times when we did not think we would make it on time.

"But every time something went wrong we all got together and figured out ways off sorting problems. If something did not turn up on time we got round it.

"This is the most beautiful bike I have ever seen but everyone knows that the really hard work has not even started."

Having won four World Superbike titles you might expect nerves would not play a part for Fogarty but he confessed: "I did not sleep much the night before the launch, this means so much to me.

"I want to win as much as I ever did when I rode and with that desire comes the pressure.

"Anyone who knows me will be aware that I have not changed since I retired, I still want to be a winner.

"That is what this team is all about, we want to be winners. It will be tough to do that straight away but by the start of the 2003 season on a bike that is capable of not only competing but winning races."

That, of course, is what Fogarty did best and he will not accept anything less as a team leader. Testing will take place in the next fortnight but the will to win means that it will be done behind closed doors to avoid anything that might distract the team from its goals.

"We are not saying where we are going because we want to be 100 per cent focused," he said. "We have got the track for four days and we don't want people climbing over walls to watch us. We know the times that others have done at the track and we are aware of what we will have to do. Reliability and performance will be the key factors."

Fogarty has put together a team of 20 people, from office staff to mechanics, and his two riders are Troy Corser and James Haydon. Nigel Bosworth, who he has raced against in the past, is alongside him and the Malaysian oil giants Petronas are also on board.

Fogarty's former on-track rival Corser - himself once world champion - has high hopes for success with the new bike.

The Australian said: "I've been involved with the development of the bike and everything I've seen so far indicates that this going to be a real success.

"The design of this bike is absolutely awesome and it's such a thrill to be able to show to everyone the bike."

Fogarty is aware that a lot of people are watching him move into team management and expecting, maybe even hoping, he will fail.

"There are those people who want me to fail, the same people who wanted me to fail as a racer, because I was the best." he said. "But I know I may have to change a bit as a team manager.

"As a racer I was aggressive and nasty as I rode to win but people do not see my other side. In this role there will be times when I have to be calm, I can't just shout and rant and rave."

"We have a long way to go and I am aware that things will not go right all the time but we just have to work it through. When things don't go well we will regroup and start again."

If testing goes well later this month the target remains a big race debut at Laguna Seca, California next month and no one who knows the Blackburn ace will be betting against the team becoming competitive very, very quickly.

Fogarty was a born winner on the track, and now he is just as determined to be a winner off it too.