Ducati working on fairing solution

The championship leader believes that the gusty conditions at Assen last weekend affected the Ducati particularly badly because it has a larger fairing than other bikes.

Stoner felt that this contributed to his defeat by title rival Valentino Rossi in the Dutch Grand Prix, but said Ducati were aware of the problem and were developing a solution.

"They've already been working on it because I asked since the beginning of the season for these things," he said.

"They've had the same fairing for many years now, and for sure it works well when we're in a straight line and it's great for the aerodynamics.

"Just for maybe some circuits where it really does get quite hard to change direction if the wind starts to blow - Phillip Island, for example - we need to really start thinking about getting a fairing that works well in these conditions.

"It hindered us a little bit today. We still got second position so we can't really complain, but I believe we could have maybe kept the fight until the last lap rather than the third to last lap."

He said he had no idea when the new fairing might be available for use.

"Not a clue - nobody knows, especially not me," Stoner said.