Traction problem for Stoner to solve

On the occasion of his 24th birthday Casey Stoner was pleased to be up near the top of the timesheets on Friday at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix, but he is seeking an improvement with the traction he is getting from his Desmosedici GP9 around the high-speed, undulating Phillip Island circuit.

Stoner looks to be getting back towards full competitiveness after his lingering physical problems earlier in the season, but at his second event since coming back from illness he also needs his race package to be at 100% in order to overcome the likes of Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

The Ducati Marlboro rider was second on the FP1 timesheet, only 0.135s behind paceman Rossi, but ever-the-perfectionist he was unhappy with the performance of his machine.

He told motogp.com, “We still need more traction. It’s a common complaint from riders but especially with our bike, because we have got it turning very well now but we need more traction on the long corners. Unfortunately, when we get better grip on the rear we lose the turning on the front, so we have to try and find the compromise. Traction is usually a strong point of our bike.”

Overall though, the Australian has a positive perspective on affairs as he goes in search of a third consecutive home win, also stating, “It’s nice to be here, because a few weeks ago we just knew that we would be taking part here and we did not know if we would be competitive or not. Everything seems to be ok though and I feel good in myself. We still need to work on the bike a bit more to be ready to win, but I think I am in a good enough condition to fight for the whole race now.”