Capirossi is the third-oldest rider in the championship

At 33, the Italian will be the third-oldest rider on the grid but he told BBC Sport age was not a problem.

"You have to train well but mentally it's easy - I love riding," he said.

"This is one of the most important years for me. We have a new bike, a new project and we all think good things about this year."

Loris has always been great to me since I started GP so it's really good to be matched up with him Casey Stoner

Capirossi came third in the 2006 championship and if fate had not intervened, he could easily have done even better.

Going into the Catalunya race, Capirossi shared the championship lead with Nicky Hayden, but crashed in the first of three races in as many weeks.

He recovered to claim victory in the Czech Republic and Japan, but never managed to regain the ground he had lost to Hayden and Valentino Rossi.

"2006 had some great moments for me but we had some unlucky things too," he said.

"I still finished third so I just want to think about 2007 and to try my best for this one."

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The new year sees the introduction of the new 800cc machines, and Capirossi said he expected it to cause some short-term changes - but in the long term, the usual suspects would dominate.

"I think the situation is changeable for 2007," he said.

"The level of competition is very strong - we will have a lot of different victors of single GP but when you're fighting for the title, we will be fighting with the same people."

Capirossi said he felt like such a veteran this season that he has changed his nickname from Capirex to Capi-T Rex.

In contrast, his team-mate this season is someone with only one season of MotoGP under his belt - Casey Stoner.

Stoner made an impressive MotoGP debut in 2006

The 21-year-old Australian impressed as LCR Honda's sole rider last term and said he felt being part of a bigger team would give him room to develop.

"Last year I was at a one-man team, so there was a bit of pressure which did make me struggle sometimes," he said.

"But this year, we can step out of the limelight and concentrate on the results.

"I think last year's crashes are a thing of the past and we can look forward."

Stoner also clearly relishes the prospect of teaming up with the veteran Italian.

"Loris has always been great to me since I started GP, always asking how I was and how things were going, so it's really good to be matched up with him and learn from him as the season goes on," he said

"He's a great guy, really easy to talk to. We need to discuss things as we've developing a new bike so I think it's good we can communicate well and get this bike ready."