Ducati will improve further, says Stoner

Stoner opened up a massive eight-second gap over second-place Toni Elias on Honda Gresini by the last laps of the MotoGP race at Istanbul Park.

"Hopefully we can find more things with tyres and a few more engine setup characteristics that we can improve again," said Stoner of tomorrow's post-race test session.

"We've been getting faster and faster every weekend, and I really think we can just continue to improve.

"Our bike's speed is a great thing for us at the moment. Lots of people said that without the speed, Ducati would be nowhere. But we still did a great job in Jerez and we proved that we can go around corners.

"Even here, you know, there's not that big a straight. It does help a bit but you've got to get out that fast corner. The Ducati seems to be quite good through the tight, twisty sections. We are still not too bad and I'm looking forward to (the next race at) Shanghai."

Stoner was also very complimentary about the steps forward made by his Bridgestone tyres.

"I wasn't riding Bridgestones last year, and you saw they didn't have the best race here last year," he said.

"But every year they're making improvements, they're making leaps and bounds on every track and doing quickest lap times at the end of races.

"I could have gone a lot quicker at the end but there was no need to. Bridgestone and Ducati seem to work very well at the moment, and getting to China they're just gonna get better."

Stoner also hailed the atmosphere within the team.

"This year we seem to work very well together," he added. "My chief mechanic is a person who I worked in the past with. We seem to suit each other well with Ducati. Loris (Capirossi) is a great teammate, and this seems to make the job easier."