Alonso aims to pick up where he left off

MANAMA, Mar 8 (Reuters) Fernando Alonso expects to be fighting for victory again on Sunday in a season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix that begins a new era for Formula One.

Renault's 24-year-old Spaniard, the youngest champion in the sport's history, starts for the first time with the number one on his car and with a V8 engine behind him instead of the old three-litre V10s.

The winner in Bahrain last year, when the West Asia's only race was the third round on the calendar, and in the Chinese finale in Shanghai last October, Alonso is sounding confident.

''The team has done a good job with the car, the R26 seems very competitive, and we are ready to go to the first race to try and score a lot of points,'' he told the Renault website.

''I think we have done what we needed to. The car is ready to race: it has done a lot of laps, on all types of circuits and conditions,'' added the Spaniard, who is moving to McLaren at the end of the year.

''Now is the time to measure ourselves against the others...we have done the maximum possible, so I am relaxed going into the season.'' The first race is always an acid test, a time when the results either stand up the confident pre-season talk or show it up as wishful thinking.

On the basis of testing performances, champions Renault and Honda (formerly BAR) are the teams to beat with Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren and Michael Schumacher's Ferrari close behind.

HONDA HOPES Both Ferrari and Honda tested in Bahrain last month and have covered tens of thousands of kilometres since November in a determined bid to raise their game.

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