By Steve Parrish BBC motorbikes commentator

Moving from Superbikes to MotoGP is like going from the Championship to the Premier League Steve Parrish on James Toseland

The 2008 MotoGP season gets underway with a floodlit race in Qatar on Sunday 9 March.

And one man who will firmly be in the spotlight is British rider James Toseland, who is making his debut after taking the decision to step up from World Superbikes.

We have all been really buoyed by his winter testing.

Early indications look like he has managed to break through what a lot of Superbike riders can't do initially and get to the stage where he is right on the pace.

Obviously that needs to be converted in to race results, but I'm pretty convinced that James is going to be there or thereabouts throughout the season.

Moving from Superbikes to MotoGP is like going from the Championship to the Premier League, but I think he will easily make the transition.

The key thing he has to bear in mind this season is not to push himself too much.

What he mustn't do is get too wrapped up in chasing people he shouldn't be chasing and falling down and losing confidence in himself.

QATAR MOTOGP Season preview: Sunday BBC TWO and BBC Sport website (UK only), 1410-1440 125cc, 250cc races live: Sunday, BBCi (Freeview channel 302) and BBC Sport website (UK only), 1645-1915 Race live: Sunday, BBC THREE, BBCi and BBC Sport website (UK only), 1930-2100 Race highlights: Sunday, BBC TWO, 0000-0100 MotoGP on the BBC

He is on his apprenticeship this year in MotoGP and that doesn't mean to say that he can't get some good results, but they have got to come to him rather than him pushing for them.

James is a 27-year-old with a 35-year-old's head on his shoulders and he has been around long enough to think about what he is doing.

He has to use his intelligence, maturity and take the year as it comes and I truly believe he is going to surprise a few of us.

Jousting for the championship is obviously a step too far for James, but what a title race we have in prospect.

I always back Valentino Rossi to win the title and nothing changes this year.

I think he has another title in him and events over the past two years, where he has missed out, have made him a bit cross and he is hungrier as a result.

He has proved he is human after all and does make mistakes.

He has got the Bridgestone tyres he wanted and has had Yamaha working hard in testing and we have seen increased horse power as a result.

My winter has been quite nice, but I have a feeling that the team at Yamaha have had to work very hard indeed.

They seem to have got rid of some of the complacency they had.

I think they thought Rossi could overcome any deficits with the bike, but it's been proven that he is human and they need to work together.

Defending champion Casey Stoner is the man in Rossi's sights.

Australia's Casey Stoner won the 2008 MotoGP championship

I don't think Stoner's Ducati will start with the advantage it had last year so that is going to make it harder for him.

Having said that he now knows how to win a world championship, he knows what it's all about and has that experience about him.

Nicky Hayden was in a similar situation last year but thanks to the performance of his Honda he had a dismal year.

Stoner will not suffer those problems as Ducati haven't changed his bike dramatically.

Their winter has been more about evolution rather than revolution and they have fine tuned what they had.

Add in Honda's Dani Pedrosa to the mix and I can see the season going down to the wire.

And starting the year with a floodlit race could really put the cat amongst the pigeons.

For all we know there might be someone out there with X-Ray vision or carrot eyes!

It could be a weird one, someone might come and do well under lights who wouldn't necessary do well in another race.

I'm not too sure that Qatar will set the pattern for the year, it's a notoriously difficult to track to predict because of the sand on the track and it's a peculiar circuit.

Let battle commence!

Season prediction: 1. Rossi 2. Stoner 3. Pedrosa

Qatar prediction: 1. Stoner 2. Rossi 3. Edwards

Steve Parrish was talking to Paul Birch