Stoner warns against complacency

Casey Stoner has warned his Ducati team against complacency in this weekend’s French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

The 21-year-old Australian has won three of the opening four races of the season for the Italian manufacturer to open up a 15-point lead in the championship over Valentino Rossi.

And he believes that around the twisty Bugatti circuit at Le Mans – which will almost certainly favour Rossi's Yamaha over his own Ducati, it is important not to lose focus on the task in hand.

"So far, this season is pretty much a dream come true," said Stoner. Now we've got to keep our heads down, make sure we don't get too confident, keep putting in the hard work and maybe things will pay off.

Stoner will almost certainly start with a disadvantage to Rossi, not only in terms of his machinery, but also because French tyre supplier Michelin will be super-keen to get one over Ducati's rubber manufacturer Bridgestone at their home track.

He believes the key to limiting the damage will be to set his GP07 machine up for front-end stability on the brakes – a tactic that should see him beat the fourth place he achieved in Moto GP, 250s and 125s on his past four visits there.

"You really need a bike that's very good on the brakes, if you don't have that you can pretty much forget it," he added.

"At the same time you need a bike that hooks up on the exits of the slow corners, because there's a lot of stop-start onto big straights.

"Le Mans is definitely for the brave with a lot of out-braking going on, plus there's a few good chicanes to sort people out."

EuroSport