The winner of a superb Barcelona race in 2007 en route to his World Championship triumph and the victor of the most recent MotoGP race at Mugello - a first win for Ducati at their home track – Casey Stoner has every reason to be confident as he arrives in Catalunya for round six.
However, approaching the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya as the standings leader, Stoner was typically understated as he previewed what promises to be another intriguing weekend at the Montmeló track.
Giving his general perspective on the title race having taken 90 points from the opening five rounds, four more than his current closest rival Jorge Lorenzo, Stoner stated, “This championship is extremely difficult and competitive and even a victory like the one at Mugello, wonderful as it was, needs to be put behind us so that we can turn our focus to the next race.”
“Being leader of the championship at this stage means absolutely nothing. My rivals are very clever, mature and capable of winning races so we have to stay focused, do our best to be competing for the top step of the podium again and if that’s not possible then make sure we are bringing home the maximum number of points.”
On the qualities of the Barcelona venue, the Australian added, “It was one of my favourite circuits until they re-laid it. Even though they put a completely new surface down a few years ago it has never been the same as it was before and the fact they race F1 there hasn’t helped the situation in terms of the bumps and potholes. The layout is nice though. The first part isn’t too difficult but the middle and end parts of the lap are technical and demanding, especially the fast pair of right-handers coming onto the start-finish straight.”
Stoner and his Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden will be honoured by the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday morning with the unveiling of their plaques on ‘Champions Avenue’ - adding their names to those of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Dani Pedrosa, amongst others - in celebration of their respective 2007 and 2006 MotoGP titles.
Source: http://www.motogp.com