Valentino Rossi, who has won five out of seven world titles contested in the MotoGP era, believes he needs to find new motivation ahead of the new season.
The Fiat Yamaha rider, whose teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, is tipped to be the Italian's natural successor, regained the world title after an epic struggle with defending champion Casey Stoner last season.
The defining moment for the Italian was when he beat his Australian rival at Laguna Seca in the United States but he is now concerned that his desire for a seventh premier class world title needs to be more focused.
Having been beaten in the 20006 and 2007 title races, by Nicky Hayden and Stoner respectively, Rossi did not need an incentive to win the world crown last season.
Ahead of Sunday's race at Losail, which will be at night and run under floodlights, Rossi admitted: "I had motivation last year. Now I need to find new motivation. Every year I have to work harder."
Contracted to Fiat Yamaha until the end of the 2010 season, Rossi does not believe he is ready to quit the sport just yet.
He said: "When I start to feel less fast, this is the time to stop.
"I will decide on my future in 2010 and if it is possible to continue or better to stop."
* With agencies
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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