Biaggi: The real Rossi isn't nice.

This season saw relatively little of the verbal - and sometimes physical - confrontations between Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi that led to an official conduct warning from the FIM in 2001.

That was perhaps largely due to the Rossi/RCV combination being unmatchable in the early part of the season, if Biaggi had been a contender for the title the tension could well have returned...

However, next year Biaggi will - like Rossi - be on an RCV, and in an interview with daily Spanish Newspaper Mark, the only non-Honda rider to win a race this year claimed not only that he can beat Rossi and his factory bike next season, but also fanned the flames further by stating that the popular Repsol rider puts on an act for the TV camera's - and in reality the innocent looking World Champion isn't as nice as he appears.

"Rossi will have always the better bike, but my Pons run Honda is competitive and I'll have the possibility to win GP's and challenge for the title," stated Biaggi when asked about next season. "I hope that my [Pons] team can reduce the difference between the two machine specifications, if so I'll aim to overcome everything else with my riding quality."

When asked specifically if he believed he could beat the Rossi/factory Honda combination, Biaggi was adamant: "I defeated them on a Yamaha two times this year and was very close on other occasions. With a Honda I think I won't have a problem in repeating those achievements next year."

Turning to Rossi himself, Biaggi - who appeared to have buried the hatchet after their earlier fallouts - pulled no punches in his assessment of the MotoGP champion.

"Valentino appears a very nice person, clean and attractive, but in reality he's not like that. He's not like people see him on TV, in front of the cameras he is very easy to like, he appears nice - but in reality that's not the case. I don't act like that and criticise other riders the way he does, for example the way he criticised [team-mate] Ukawa after they battled in Malaysia."

Having made a rather unflattering character description, Biaggi did admit that on the racetrack Rossi's one of the greatest racers he's ever faced - but not the best.

"Have I raced anyone better? It is not easy to answer because I've had many big rivals during all these years of racing - it's not possible to name just one person," began Biaggi. "I would say that Michael Doohan was one of the strongest racers I've ever met, but Valentino is one of the best ever."

It looks like 2003 is going to be as action packed off the track as it will be on it...