Casey Stoner says he could have gone even quicker on way to Indy GP win

The Australian passed his Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa for the lead and pulled away to a comfortable win that helped increase his championship lead over Jorge Lorenzo to 44 points with only six races remaining.

However, the 2007 world champion believes there was room for improvement in his performance across the 28-lap race.

"We thought we could get a bit faster today," Stoner said. "But obviously with the heat it made it very hard and it was a lot of hard work just to stay out front; trying to stay consistent, trying not to make mistakes and trying not to run onto the greasy part of the track.

"For the race we knew we had a good set-up, so we knew we had the pace. I struggled a bit for the first few laps, but once I got going we managed to do the lap times we thought we could get into.

Stoner's victory means that he will become world champion for a second time just by finishing on the podium in every remaining race - provided Lorenzo does not win them all.

He denied, however, that success at Indianapolis was the most important of the current campaign, despite its impact on the championship standings.

"There's crucial points all season," he added. "We just have to keep our heads down and try to win races. That's what I enjoy the most and that's what we're here to do every weekend."