Q & A with Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner: I don't think it should change at all. last year we didn't know what was in store for us, we hadn't had a lot of time on the bike, and in the previous test before this time last year we'd struggled a bit so, it was a difficult moment for us.

We weren't too sure, but as we did more tests towards the beginning of the season, we gained more speed and more confidence, with the team, with the bike, so by the beginning of the season we were confident we could get some decent results, just not quite as good as the season went. So I think now we've got a lot more confidence.

It's the first time I'm going to be racing with the same team and the same bike two years in a row, and I think we should look at it in a very positive way, the fact that we know what I'm riding now, and we can only go forward from here. We had a little bit of a mishap at the end of last season but I think we'll come back for this season just as strong, and maybe even stronger than last year.

Q. While on the subject of the stress at the end of last season, have you been able to get some vacation and recharge the batteries ahead of the new year? And most of all, how is your shoulder?

CS: Yeah, we managed to get a little bit of holidays in, we had a lot of family and friends over because we didn't have a lot of time, but I've also been training, trying to get my shoulder back on track, it's been going quite well at the moment, so we'll see how we go in the first test. We're still not too sure how it will perform when we get back on the bike, it was quite a bad crash at the end of last year, so we're just going to have to wait and see how that goes.

But it was a very necessary break, last season, towards the end, everything got very busy and we just really needed a bit of time off. I've come back, and I've got training. This year, I want to be stronger, I want to be faster than I was last year, and I think by the time we come to the first round we should be very happy with everything.

Q. You chose the number one for next year, was that a big decision to go from your normal number?

CS: I read that on the internet. I'm really not too sure. Number 27 has been with me for a long time now. It's a difficult moment to understand which way we were going to go, but we just have to wait and see.

Q. After having won in 2007, what have you asked Ducati for 2008, in order to improve the bike, and under which aspects?

CS: Marco was talking a little bit about where we need to improve slightly, not so much with the engine management system but the engine control, driveability. We've had a lot of power out of it last year and we're very happy that it's lasted the distance in the races with the fuel consumption, and everything like that has been perfect.

The chassis, we've made a few improvements during the season, I asked for a few modifications with the chassis to use on some different tracks that we struggled with, to make some improvements for this year.

Other than that I'm quite happy with the bike. We're just slowly making some improvements, but there isn't a huge big step that we need. We need little bits and pieces everywhere, but there's not one thing we really need to improve.

I think the whole package it quite good, it's quite even, we weren't losing out really in too many places to the other bikes, so if we work again well with this package, then we can be fast again.

Q. There are not many riders who can claim to have worried Valentino Rossi. So worried, in fact, to have forced him to ride this year with the same tyres as yours, the Bridgestones. How does it feel to have worried so much the rider who's won five consecutive titles in the top class?

CS: I believe that it doesn't matter what a rider has done in the past, it's what they do in the future, and we don't know who's going to be competitive next year, who's going to be the force that we have to try and beat.

Nobody expected us last year, including myself. We went in there with no expectations, we were just trying to do the best job we could and get some decent results. but we managed to get some unbelievable results and managed to get the championship with that, so I think you never really know who's going to be the force until you see them during the season.

For sure Valentino is going to be fast, but Dani arrived second in the championship after he had a couple of very unlucky races, I think he was taken out in two races. Without these incidents he would have been closer to us again, so we're just going to have to wait and see what happens when the season starts, and see who can keep the consistency as the season continues.

Q. You said yourself that you were going to get some wins last year, and eventually you had 10 wins and a world championship. Are you maybe a little more nervous this year because you've got a stronger teammate, and the others trying to catch you up?

CS: It's the same thing with Valentino and the Bridgestones. Everyone is always asking me if we're worried about it. We're just worried about our own situation. We're racing the clock, we're out there trying to get the best setup we can on the bike. We're not in the same garage as everybody else.

I really enjoy the fact that Marco is here now, we can work together to try and solve similar problems, because by the sounds of it we both want the same thing.

We're just going to have to see, but it's like what we did last year, we didn't worry about what everyone else was doing, we just concentrated on our own settings, on our own selection with tyres and everything, and it worked for us, so I think we're just going to continue that this year, and hopefully the same thing will work out.

I'm not afraid of the fact that Valentino is on Bridgestones, we saw at the first test, there was nothing in particular very special, but we will have to see as the season goes on. I'm very happy with the way Bridgestone have worked, they've given me a great opportunity, and I think they will continue to work in the same system this year.

Q. Last year, Livio Suppo told us many times that it was not the tyres, it was you that made the difference. How good was his help to you, and do you think he can help even more this year with all these rivals coming better this year?

CS: We don't know if they are coming better this year. we haven't even started this year so we have to wait and see what happens, like I said before, see who is going to be fast and who is going to struggle. But the way the team is at the moment, I love it. Everyone has been so wonderful for me.

Since the beginning they have accepted me, before we were winning races, before we did anything, they treated me the same as they do now. So I don't want to change anything.

It was a perfect set-up last year, and people forget that when we're on the track it's the rider that does the job, but before we get there we need the team, we need all the people behind us to try and get us there.

My chief technician last year, it was his first season as a chief technician and we managed to win the championship. he did a fantastic job, but without all of my team we wouldn't have done it. It's like any sport, without your team behind you, you can't do it by yourself.