Stoner: No complacency at Ducati

More Moto GP newsCasey Stoner has insisted that he will not be getting complacent any time soon – despite his sensational start to the Moto GP season.

The 21-year-old Australian had never won a race prior to this season, but two victories in the opening three races - including a dominant ride in Turkey last time out - has catapulted him into a ten point championship lead.

But Stoner has said that he and his Ducati team will be keeping their minds on the job ahead of them rather than basking in their glory, starting with this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai.

"It is quite easy," said Stoner. "We have raced for a lot of years and know what it involves. Nothing really goes as smoothly as it looks on television sometimes.

"We have to keep our heads, look down the right line and make sure we don't get too confident. We need to put in the hard work and hopefully it will pay off."

Stoner's Ducati is widely renowned as the fastest bike in a straight line, with the four fastest bikes down the Istanbul Park track's main straight all from the Italian manufacturer.

And with two even longer stretches in place at the Shanghai circuit, many have already predicted that the race will be a cakewalk for Stoner and his team-mate Loris Capirossi.

But Stoner believes the result is far from a foregone conclusion, with the performance of his team's Bridgestone tyres at the forefront of his mind with regards to his title fight with Yamaha's Valentino Rossi and Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

"Everyone is saying that the Ducati is going to be extremely fast on the circuit, and with the top speeds we have it is going to help for sure," Stoner added.

"But we also have to think about other areas of the track. It is tight and twisty and it is going to be difficult. We have to keep our heads straight and see how we go."

Stoner has won at Shanghai before - beating Andrea Dovizioso to victory in the 250cc world championship race there in 2005.

EuroSport