Casey Stoner looks to return to winning ways

Casey Stoner might be enjoying the best run of podium finishes in his MotoGP career , but the world championship leader wants a quick return to winning ways in the face of mounting pressure from Yamaha rival Jorge Lorenzo.

Stoner is enjoying the longest run of podium finishes in his career, with his third position at last Sunday’s Sachsenring in Germany his seventh straight rostrum.

But a healthy lead just two races ago has been eroded to 15-points with Stoner without a victory in his previous three outings.

He had threatened to runaway with the title when he bounced back superbly from the disappointment of being torpedoed out of a rain-hit Spanish Grand Prix by Valentino Rossi to win in commanding fashion in Le Mans, Catalunya and Silverstone.

But his recent dip in form has coincided with a purple patch for Spaniard Lorenzo, who fired life back into his title tilt with a brilliant victory in Mugello earlier this month. And he clawed back more vital points when he passed Stoner at the final corner in Germany to claim a hard fought second place.

Stoner has led the last two races but slipped back to third, and he reckons he and his Repsol Honda team have to work do to get back to winning form.

He said: “Jorge is definitely a tough man to beat but as is Dani (Pedrosa) and also Marco (Simoncelli) and Andrea (Dovizioso) on their day.  I just need to do my best job and not worry about anybody else.

“Whoever is running up front is our toughest competitor. I’ll just focus on myself.  We’ve got a job to do and we need to it better than what we are doing.”

Stoner though said he will start the second half of the season in Laguna Seca this weekend not thinking too much about the title hunt.

He added: “I’m not thinking about, especially once the race weekend starts.  Last year I tried everything I could because I didn’t want to finish fifth or sixth. This year for the championship there might be times when its necessary but I’m still going for wins.#

“The fact I’ve been on the podium every race since Jerez has been really good for me and hopefully I can continue that for the rest of the season. That’s what it will take to win the championship. 

“There are tracks coming up that I enjoy.  Jerez was something that happened and after race three I was disappointed because I knew what I was capable of doing and where we should be in the championship.  But we rectified that and took over the championship lead by ourselves, which has been something really nice to do.”