Stoner expects to get even faster

The Australian took his third consecutive dominant win at Misano today, taking his victory tally this year to eight from 13 races. He can now clinch the championship in the next round at Estoril.

But rather than easing off in the final races, Stoner believes he will improve his pace further, as he has traditionally been at his strongest in the last quarter of the calendar.

"All the last part of the season has always been my best part," he said.

"The European races normally we just have to try and get through with as many points as possible, because normally in the European races we struggle a little bit.

"But this year we've made a really good go of them, we've got some wins and some good points, and normally the second part of the season is when I come on a little bit stronger, while for some reason the other riders tend to go off a little bit.

"We'll see what happens but I think in these next races we can be a bit stronger."

He reckons this will definitely be the case this season as he is still getting more familiar with the Ducati with every round.

"I didn't have so much time on the bike at the beginning of the season," Stoner said.

"The more I ride the bike, the more comfortable I become and the faster I become."

Stoner also insisted that he had been pushing hard throughout the Misano race and could not have extracted much more speed from the Ducati.

"I was just hanging in there," he said.

"The last couple of races have been like that, I haven't had a lot left, maybe just a tiny bit to push in a few corners where maybe you have to brake on the side of the tyre.

"I could've pushed a little bit harder, but to go around those sort of corners without too much risk, I didn't have a lot left."