Stoner confident ahead of Assen
Added on Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Stoner confident ahead of Assen
Casey Stoner heads to Assen looking for a repeat of last year’s Netherlands success and gain the advantage in the MotoGP.
Stoner is one of a trio of riders going into this weekend’s grand prix level at the top on 106 points and the 2007 world champion is looking to gain the initiative after the Yamaha pairing of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi stole the headlines in Barcelona two weeks ago.
Stoner was some way off the pace in Barcelona after suffering an illness all weekend but the Australian is full of confidence ahead of the trip to a circuit where he boasts an impressive record in premier class racing.
Stoner secured an impressive fourth place finish in his rookie year with the LCR Honda in 2006 before a second place finish in 2007 with Ducati and a victory last year on a circuit which, on paper at least, should prove to be one of the more challenging venues for the notoriously difficult Ducati
“Assen is a strange track for me because before I rode there in MotoGP it was one of my favourite circuits but one where I never managed to get great results in the smaller categories,” said Stoner. “Then in 2006 I had a decent result and since then, with the Ducati, I’ve always been fast.
“Considering the fact that the GP9 has already shown that it is competitive on a variety of circuits, I can’t wait to get back to Assen. Ideally we’d like another weekend of consistent good weather so that we can work on the bike and find a bit more rear grip, which is the only thing we’re missing at the moment. The rest of the bike is great – it is turning well and the front is really stable under braking.
“I wasn’t really fit at the test and I didn’t do a lot of laps but we did what we needed to and now we’ll try and take advantage of that work in the next race.”
