Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com
Casey Stoner is confident that he can take his first ever Grand Prix victory at Jerez this weekend after working to solve the problems that hindered him in Qatar. The World Champion suffered from chatter before arm pump made him powerless to hold off Jorge Lorenzo. Stoner has been working to overcome the problems and feels he has a package capable of winning if he can.
“After a difficult race in Qatar, I’m looking forward to Jerez. We had a very good pre-season test there, it’s a track that hasn’t been so good for me in the past so the fact we were able to hold a good pace there in testing has given us a lot of confidence. We still have some issues that we really need to resolve with the bike especially the chattering in the entrance and exit of the corner, when we solve these we believe we will have a very competitive package. Since Qatar I’ve been working on the arm pump issue I experienced in the race and it’s definitely feeling better, we’ve treated it the same way as when I had it in 2010 at Silverstone so I’m hoping it won’t be a problem for us this weekend”.
Dani Pedrosa beat his Repsol Honda teammate to second in Qatar and will be looking to go one better in front of his home crowd.
“The pre-season test at Jerez was positive for us, we had good feelings on the bike and finished happy, so I’m really looking forward to going there for the Grand Prix this weekend. We need to be very focused and have a good qualifying session in order to start the race in a good position. I love the Jerez circuit and the passionate support of the Spanish fans, I hope the grandstands are full again as it adds to the unique atmosphere there. We had a great race in Qatar and to start the season on the podium is important, but we cannot relax, we will be aiming for another strong race this weekend”.
