Stoner eyes victory at Brno

The Australian skipped the 2009 event as he recovered from his illness, and he is now looking to make up for that on one of his favourite tracks.

The Ducati rider has been on the podium in the last four races, having finished second in the previous event at Laguna Seca.

Now Stoner is aiming to go one better and win at Brno.

"Brno is one of my favourite circuits - I have liked it since I raced there for the first time back in 2002," said Stoner. "It is long and flowing, with a lot of direction changes and plenty of opportunities to overtake.

"It is the kind of circuit that lends itself to spectacular races and I can't wait to race there again - I wasn't fit to ride last year and I missed it.

"I want to make up for that this weekend so we'll be looking to find a good set-up for the bike, improve by a couple of tenths compared to the rest and be fighting for the win."

Team-mate Nicky Hayden is also aiming for a strong result in the Czech Republic, the American admitting he needs to take a step forward following some encouraging results at the start of the season.

"We're heading into the second half of a season that started out with some decent results but we need to take another step forward now," said Hayden. "It is not easy because the level of competition is so high in this championship but I think you always have to look to improve.

"We have a day of testing after the race and I hope that can serve to set us up for an improved second half of the season."