Casey Stoner is hoping his victory at
Donington Park will kick-start a belated charge towards the
MotoGP title as the championship heads to Assen and the Dutch Grand Prix.
With Stoner's dominant win from lights to flag in the British Grand Prix raising expectations of a three-way title fight, he is hoping another good result will help him break down the sizeable advantage currently held over him by leader
Valentino Rossi.
Assen harbours mixed emotions for the young Australian though after he lost out to Rossi in a magnificent tussle in last year's race. Nonetheless, the circuit itself remains one of his favourites, forgetting the fact that he is not as fond of the ‘re-profiled' version.
"I've had good results at Assen in the past and the track, at least before they made the alterations, was spectacular,” he said. “Then they got rid of what was my favourite corner in the world, the "De Bult" - a long off-camber left - which has been completely changed.
Interestingly, despite victory at Donington Park, which was credited mostly to a big step forward with the electronics on the Ducati, Stoner is remaining cautious about his hopes in the Netherlands by choosing to say he is looking for a podium.
“Anyway, I still like the track and last year we found a good set-up for the bike, so I hope it's the same this year and that we can fight for the podium again.
“The team are working really hard and now we've got a base setting that we're a lot happier with. I really hope that all this hard work also bears fruit at this circuit."
Ducati Project Director Livio Suppo was feeling rather more confident though, stating that he thinks Stoner can fight for victory if he finds the bike's set-up sweet spot once again.
"We can't wait to see Casey back in action at Assen, a track he went well at last year and where he arrives this year in frighteningly good form. We hope that he feels as comfortable with the new setting as he did at Donington and that he can fight for the victory again.”
