By Julian Shea BBC Sport in Jerez

At 42, McWilliams is the oldest rider on the MotoGP grid

Ilmor rider Jeremy McWilliams says he is as surprised as anyone that he is competing in MotoGP at the age of 42.

The season starts in Qatar this weekend and McWilliams, the oldest participant and the only one from the British Isles, said he was proud to be there.

"We've got some great youngsters coming along like Bradley Smith and Eugene Laverty. Maybe one day I'll not have to hold up the mantle," he told BBC Sport.

"But it's something I really want to do and my heart's in it 110%."

The major manufacturers' new 800s have quite quickly got faster than the 990s, which is a surprise to even the riders Jeremy McWilliams

Northern Irishman McWilliams is riding alongside Australian Andrew Pitt for the Ilmor team, set up by ex-McLaren Formula One engine designer Mario Illien.

The team competed in the last two races of the 2006 championship, using 800cc bikes ahead of them being introduced across the board this season, and McWilliams said he found working with people from a four-wheel background a refreshing change.

"I have worked with teams who've come from F1 background before and we've found difficulties with engineers taking the right path but it's different with Ilmor," he said.

"Mario listens to riders and reacts to what we need.

"The engineers can only react to what information we give them, and then they have a time frame to react.

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"With Ilmor, it seems that reaction time is less than I've seen before, they react quickly and we have a budget which enables us to do that."

But the team's pre-season optimism has suffered a double blow in the shape of other teams making up ground in the development of 800cc engines, and McWilliams's drawn-out recovery from a serious crash in November.

"I lost a finger, broke my collarbone, some ribs and my femur," he said.

"I had to have the operation totally redone when I got back from Spain, which set me back about four weeks. Since then I've been spending up to two hours a day in physio every day.

McWilliams is still recovering from a crash before Christmas

"It's not the ideal way to start, but there's nothing I can do about it.

"This season starts earlier than ever. Last time I raced in MotoGP it started in April, which would have been ideal for me this year."

The progress that other teams have made with their 800cc engines has also been a shock for Ilmor.

"The major manufacturers' new 800s have quite quickly got faster than the 990s, which is a surprise to even the riders," he said.

"We're not quite sure how that's happening, so we haven't got the advantage we thought we had.