French MotoGP: Casey Stoner happy at Ducati resurgence

Casey Stoner reckons Ducati is back on course after he claimed his second successive front row start in the 2008 campaign in Le Mans today.

Without a win since his dominant success in the season’s opening race in Qatar, Stoner and Ducati have been frantically trying to get back on track after a shaky period.

The Aussie qualified third fastest today and he said: “I made a mistake towards the end of my best lap and I think it cost me pole position, so I have to accept responsibility for that. The team have done a great job to get the bike working around this circuit on race tyres and we’ve been fast all weekend.

“Bridgestone have also been working hard on their qualifying tyres and they gave us something really good today so it was a shame we couldn’t translate that into another pole for them. Anyway, from my point of view the qualifying position is not important so long as we’re in touch and a front row start gives us a good chance.

“The most important thing is that we’re in good shape in race trim and if it stays dry tomorrow then we could be in for a good battle. (Dani) Pedrosa and (Colin) Edwards look like they will be on the pace and you always have to expect Valentino (Rossi) to join in too so hopefully the weather stays dry for the fans and we get a good race and a good result.”