Casey Stoner has rejected suggestions that he is well on his way to the 2011 MotoGP title.
The Repsol Honda star scored his fifth win of the season in Sunday's US MotoGP at Laguna Seca - ending a three-race losing streak and raising his win rate back up to 50% after ten of 18 rounds.
The Australian heads for the MotoGP summer break with a 20 point advantage over Jorge Lorenzo, who Stoner caught and passed on Sunday.
"Talking championship points at this moment is a little difficult. Points can slip away so quickly. As long as we are there at the end of this season - we're not going to win the world championship now," said Stoner, the 2007 world champion.
"I think if we have a chance to win it that'll come towards the end of the season or the last race. As long as I stay close enough for that, and we can keep these good results up, then I'll be happy.
"But Jorge is going to be strong every race and I think Dani [Pedrosa] is going to be up there, beating us and taking points away from us. It's definitely going to be a tough end to the season."
Yamaha's reigning world champion Lorenzo, lucky to escape serious injury in a huge Saturday crash, has won just two of the ten races this year. This time last year he had won seven of the ten races.
"To win the world title the important thing is to finish in front of Casey. Today we tried and couldn't, but there are more races," said the Spaniard.
"My strategy is just to go as fast as I can. Even then it is going to be tough, but we will try to the end.
"At Brno, in a better physical condition, maybe things can change."
Stoner and Lorenzo have both suffered one DNF so far this season.
Honda has not won the MotoGP title since 2006 and 2011 is the factory's last chance for an 800cc crown.
The Czech Republic Grand Prix takes place from August 12-14.
Source: http://www.crash.net