Stoner keeping his feet on the ground
Added on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Stoner keeping his feet on the ground
Casey Stoner is refusing to get carried away with leading the MotoGP championship at this early stage, insisting that both he and Ducati have to maintain focus throughout the season.
Stoner’s victory at Mugello last week, a win that ended Valentino Rossi’s seven-year winning streak in Italy, propelled him to the top of the MotoGP championship ahead of Yamaha rivals Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in what is shaping up to be an intriguing three-horse race for the rider’s championship.
But the 2007 champion, who fell away dramatically mid-way through last season, insists that he is not getting carried away with his lead ahead of round six in Barcelona.
“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,” he claimed.
“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.
The Australian did however pass judgement on the surface at the Circuit de Catalunya, claiming that the new surface and adaptations for F1 had spoilt the venue.
“Barcelona 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.”
