US MotoGP: Casey Stoner looks for grip and grunt

Casey Stoner reckons more grip from Bridgestone and extra acceleration from his factory Ducati would help him mount a bigger threat for victories in MotoGP.

Stoner is looking to end his long-running victory drought in Laguna Seca this weekend having gone without a premier class success since last October.

Speaking in California on the eve of the ninth round of the 2010 world championship, the 24-year-old said:

“I’ve just got to get myself as close to the front as I can and see if I can put up a bit more of a fight than last week (Sachsenring).

“It’s been time to win for a long time but I can’t do anything more than what I’ve been doing. We’ve been a few tenths a lap too slow at the last races, not quite there. In Assen when maybe I had the speed I had arm pump.

“I had another good chance in Catalunya but I made a small mistake on the straight and that was race over. At the last race I couldn’t hold onto Jorge (Lorenzo) and Dani (Pedrosa) and they could run faster lap times. It was hard for me to stay there.

“I just have to keep working and keep trying and see if we can close the gap. I’ve got confidence with the bike but I just haven’t quite got the grip. That would give me a few tenths and it would be fine. I just need a little bit more grip and a bit more grunt and we’ll be fine.”