British MotoGP: Casey Stoner growing in confidence and strength

Casey Stoner believes he’s getting physically stronger and more confident as he chases a third successive victory in this weekend’s British MotoGP race at Donington Park.

Stoner hasn’t finished on the podium in the last two races in Laguna Seca and Sachsenring as he’s struggled to shake off a mystery condition that has left him struggling with chronic fatigue.

The Aussie heads to Donington Park, a circuit where he dominated on the factory Ducati in 2007 and ’08, trailing series leader Valentino Rossi by 28-points.

But despite not finishing higher than third in the last four races, the 23-year-old is hopeful of mounting a strong challenge at Donington Park.

Stoner, who finished fourth last weekend in Germany having led for ten laps, said: “We did the best job we could at Sachsenring and now I’m a bit more confident about going to Donington. 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. The track has never been one of my favourites but I have had good results there. The first part is really demanding, with the long section through 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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