World Superbike legend Carl Fogarty believes the close-season influx of MotoGP riders will make the 2006 championship one of the most fiercely contested for years.

But while the likes of Alex Barros, Troy Bayliss and Ruben Xaus swap MotoGP for World Superbike action, four-time world champion Fogarty knows his own Foggy Petronas team - have their work cut out if they are to keep pace with the leading riders.

Steve Martin finished a lowly 18th in the 2005 rankings and stablemate Garry McCoy 23rd, with McCoy replaced in time for the start of the new season by Craig Jones.

This will be Fogarty's final season after Malaysian oil company Petronas pulled its sponsorship on the team.

But the Blackburn legend is focused on the year ahead, and said: "Alex Barros has won seven grands prix and had 31 podium finishes so I think it's great for World Superbikes.

"Barros beat Valentino Rossi in the Portuguese Grand Prix last year fair and square and, on his day, he can be as fast as anyone.

"The same applies to Bayliss really. He had a bad year in MotoGP but that doesn't mean he's a bad rider, he was just inconsistent throughout the year for whatever reason.

"In my opinion he's the fastest rider in the world on a superbike but the fastest doesn't always win the championship.

"As for Xaus, he has to rediscover what he's capable of. He's had a difficult couple of years and that's knocked his confidence but three years ago he was the fastest rider in World Superbikes."

The 21-year-old Jones' preparations for the first round of the season were interrupted when thieves broke into his Peterborough home and stole possessions worth £15,000.

Jones and his girlfriend were asleep during the break-in, and he said: "It's affected my build-up to Qatar because I missed a couple of days' training."