Pacesetter Stoner wants more speed

The championship leader looked to be on course for another dominant weekend after leading the entire practice day, but Stoner believes his Ducati should have been faster.

"We struggled a little bit this morning and also a little bit in the last part of this afternoon's session but apart from that we're very happy with the settings we've got for this track, which is one of the most difficult circuits of the year with a lot bumps and some very technical corners," he said.

"We've nearly done race distance on the tyres, so everything is thing going very well, we just need to try and improve the traction for tomorrow.

"If we can do that then we should be able to push to improve our lap times and also our pace for the race."

Stoner's teammate Loris Capirossi was seventh quickest, but extremely uncomfortable with the Ducati's settings.

"I'm struggling a lot here," he said.

"During the final phase of the afternoon session I was able to find a better set-up and I did some not so bad laps, but we aren't okay yet.

"The engine delivery is too aggressive, so I'm having a lot of trouble, most of all in the slow parts of the track. We need to work on the engine management system and the electronics.

"This is a particular track where you need a perfect bike, because if the engine delivery isn't right, then the chassis won't work well and it's difficult to find the problem.

"Anyway, we made a step forward at the end of the day and we are hoping to improve some more tomorrow."