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Stoner: The end of a dream |
Stoner has taken ten race wins and 14 podiums from the 17 races so far held - and aims to help Ducati celebrate a perfect sweep of the 2007 riders', constructors' and teams' world championships with one more victory on Sunday.
"Valencia will be a special weekend, the last race of a season that has been a dream come true," began Stoner. "The championship may already be done but I don't need any more motivation than each race weekend. Every race is just as important as the others to me, so we go out there every time to try and win. The only difference now is that I'm a bit more relaxed, a bit more confident in my own abilities and what I can do with a bike.
"Valencia looks very slow and tight but it's surprisingly flowing, I've always really enjoyed it," he continued. "I had my first GP win there [the 2003 125 GP], so I've had some really good results there, also some bad ones. I tested the Ducati for the first time at Valencia last November and we were pretty much quickest, so I think with the experience we've gained we can do a good job.
"There are a lot of second and third gear corners, like most tracks, but because most of the corners are right angles and banked so you can flow in there and use a lot of corner speed. That really helps with the gearbox because you only really use two gears, other than on the straights, so it's quite easy to get set up. It's just a matter of getting your braking and entry points right and getting on the gas at the right moment," he concluded.
Stoner failed to finish the 2006 Valencian Grand Prix, which saw Ducati score its first ever MotoGP one-two with supersub Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi.
"Valencia is a very special place for us because we scored our first one-two there last year," confirmed Ducati MotoGP project director Livio Suppo. "We go there hoping to end this incredible season in the best way possible. Going into this final race of the season I want to say a big thank you to everyone involved in this project. There is a little bit of every Ducati Corse worker in this year's success, it's not just the people on track every weekend who help us to win, everyone has done an amazing job this year."
