Ben Townley’s lone world championship win may have come over a decade ago, but the New Zealand great will have to learn the ropes all over again when the 2016 MXGP World Championship kicks off in Qatar.

Suzuki World MXGP rider Townley, now 31, is a relative veteran of the sport now, coming back after retiring in 2012. He’s proven worthy of an elusive factory seat on board the RM-Z450, now ready to put his work to the test.

“I haven’t really looked at Qatar like a big, single important race but more like a season that is starting and I’m excited by that,” Townley claimed. “I’ve been preparing for this and the last few weeks have been about finishing everything off. It has been a big period of preparation, starting months and even up to a year ago to reach this point.”

“None at all, zero expectations. The first five rounds will be about going out to race, focusing on the starts, getting myself into a decent position and letting the race come to me. We’ve all seen there is no issue with my speed but back-to-back weekends and the travel schedule – I haven’t done that in a number of years. So we’ll see where I end up in Qatar and go from there.”

Townley has been declared fit for the opening round under lights at the Losail Circuit after a knee injury scare almost sidelined him before the season got underway. It’s still inflamed, but he will race-on to start the year.

“I’m managing it into the best case that I can and I’m working with doctors in Belgium,” he added. “It is nothing major, fortunately, and hopefully it won’t set me back much. It was just a twist so I’ve had some swelling and a bit of pain. I did a full day on the bike yesterday, so it seems okay.”

Qatar will be his first grand prix as a full-time member of the paddock in almost four years, although fan anticipation is high after his phenomenal Motocross of Nations showing late last year.