MotoGP: Casey Stoner keen for European season to start

MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner says he is looking forward to the world championship starting its European phase in Jerez later this month.

And the Aussie reckons it will be five or six races into the defence of his crown before he can make a serious appraisal of his potential MotoGP rivals will be in 2008.

The European leg of the 18-round series starts with clashes in Jerez and Estoril, which were two of only four tracks on which Stoner failed to score a podium in his title-winning campaign.

The factory Ducati rider said: “The next two tracks are not perfect for our package so we will try to get the best results there. but after that we’ll get on some circuits that I really enjoy so we’ll see who is competitive and who is coming out the other side for the title.”