MotoGP news

Stoner: I'm a bit more confident

The 23rd British Grand Prix at Donington Park this weekend will be the swansong for the venue, which moves aside as Silverstone enters the calendar next year. One rider is search of a particularly good result this weekend will be Casey Stoner, as the Yamaha pairing of Rossi and Lorenzo begin to slip away in the championship.

Having been dogged by illness for over a month, an on-the-mend Stoner has now slipped behind Jorge Lorenzo by 14 points in the standings with leader Rossi a further 14 ahead of his team-mate, resulting in a 28-point deficit for Australia's finest to make up in the remaining eight rounds of the 2009 championship.

He may not be a fan of the track, but Stoner has won at Donington for the last two years

"We did the best job we could at the Sachsenring and now I'm a bit more confident about going to Donington," said Casey. "The best thing for us would be to have similar weather and temperature as in Germany because I think the conditions there played into my hands, as did the circuit, which has some long corners where I was able to relax a little on the bike. I'll be happy if we can have another weekend in similar temperatures at Donington."

With the majority of the field sad to see Donington lose its place in MotoGP, Stoner is less of a fan overall. "The track has never been one of my favourites but I've have had good results there," he admitted. "The first part is really demanding, with the long section through the Craner Curves up to the Old Hairpin, but it's actually in the slow sections where you can make passes. The bike has been going really well for the last few races, even though we could do with a little more traction - we'll just have to wait and see what happens this weekend and bring home as many points as possible."

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