Bridgestone riders confident for Estoril

Last season the Japanese tyre manufacturer struggled to adapt to the resurfaced Portuguese track, allowing rival Michelin to dominate. Suzuki's John Hopkins was the top Bridgestone finisher in sixth, 25 seconds behind the winner Toni Elias.

But having won eight races on Bridgestones this year, Stoner has no concerns about Estoril.

"We feel we've got a good package, we're getting a little bit stronger each race and a little bit better feeling with it," he said.

"After the practice sessions we had here last year, we're looking quite confident for this circuit.

"The Bridgestone tyres are working very well. They struggled a bit here last year but they've done their homework and they'll be ready to come out strong, along with myself.

"We've proved that our bike and our package can go well in all types of conditions, so we should be able to suit this circuit quite well."

Vermeulen also believes that Bridgestone will have solved its 2006 issues.

"I came here for the first time last year and it was a tough track - it was resurfaced last year and, like Casey said, Bridgestone didn't have a great weekend. They struggled here," he said.

"But they've done their homework, they've done a lot of work, and there have been other tracks that we struggled at last year where the tyres have worked really well, so hopefully that will be the case again."