CARL Fogarty has rediscovered his trademark fighting spirit in time for Sunday's World Superbike championship round in Australia.

"I'm fired up now. Let the games begin," said the reigning world champion as he arrived in Sydney today.

An injured Fogarty had struggled to motivate himself before the season's opening round in South Africa, where he was third in the first race and crashed out in the second.

He said: "I feel like I've had the wake-up call from South Africa and, if I ever needed motivating, I have been now.

"I'm ready to race again now. I just want to go out and win the races, whether my shoulder is right or not.

"I'm really up for it -- my attitude has changed just like that.

"I went to South Africa down and disinterested.

"It could have gone either way after that. It could have got worse and I might not have been bothered.

"But, knowing that I was the fastest guy out there, has pumped me up.

"I don't care about the championship -- I just want to go out and win races."