Casey hoping to continue good form in Germany
Added on Monday, July 7th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Casey hoping to continue good form in Germany
Casey Stoner heads to the Sachsenring this weekend looking to overcome the disappointment of 12 months ago and extend his winning run.
The defending world champion has surged back into title contention in recent weeks following wins at Donington Park and Assen, leaving him lying third in the MotoGP championship, just 29 points behind leader Dani Pedrosa.
Stoner struggled however last season at the German Grand Prix finishing in fifth position but believes that he can improve on that result this time around, despite the Sachsenring being a circuit doesn’t appear to favor the Ducati’s attributes.
“We’re quite confident for Sachsenring where we were competitive last year,” said the 22 year old.. “It was only an issue with tyre life that prevented us from fighting for victory and I’m sure that problem won’t happen again this year.
“Bridgestone haven’t stopped working and the bike has been perfect for the last two races, so I expect it to go well at Sachsenring too.
“The track is a little different to most of the others because there are such long corners, which I don’t like too much, but there are also some fun points and I’m happy to go racing there.”
Stoner’s teammate Marco Melandri has gone well at the German track in the past and will be racing for his Ducati future this weekend after team boss Livio Suppo admitted that the team would ‘strongly consider’ looking for a replacement if Melandri failed to perform. .
Melandri won at Sachsenring three times in four years between 1999 and 2002 in the 125cc and 250cc classes, and also finished second there in the top class in 2006.
“It’s one of my favourite tracks because of the good results I’ve had there,” he said. “I’ve always had fun there and I hope I do again because that would mean things are improving.”
