Stoner fuels Ducati's title dreams

"Of course, it is too early to think about the championship, but I'd be lying if I said that we don't start thinking about it," team manager Livio Suppo told Reuters after Sunday's British Grand Prix.

The youngster's form in only his second season in motorcycling's top category, and first with a full factory team, may not be as headline-grabbing as Lewis Hamilton's Formula One debut but it is still sensational.

He won the season-opener in Qatar and has repeatedly proved more than a match for seven times world champion Valentino Rossi, opening up a 26-point lead after Donington Park.

"We are more than happy to have signed with Casey, of course," said Suppo of a rider now looking like the bargain of the decade.

"He is probably the strongest rider out there at the moment and he just is very fast everywhere, doesn't matter what conditions or which circuit.

"He has a very good strategic view of the race and he pushes only when it is necessary to push. He doesn't complain about anything on the bike and we cannot complain about the rider.

"He has a lot of experience in racing, he has raced since he was a kid, so this helps for sure," said Suppo.

"When you have such a big talent, everything is easier. He can keep things under control just because he is so fast."

Stoner, from Kurri-Kurri in New South Wales, was runner-up in the 250cc championship in 2005 but entered his first dirt track race on the Gold Coast at the age of four.

He won a title at six and moved to England as a 14-year-old to further his ambition of emulating his boyhood idols, five times champion Mick Doohan and Australia's first 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner.

Comparisons have been made with Doohan, perhaps also because Stoner shares his compatriot's forthright approach to racing and speaking his mind, but the youngster is very much his own man.

"I think it makes no sense to compare with other eras, or other riders," said Suppo.

"I think Casey is really a huge talent ... it's really difficult to find a minus in Casey at the moment." 

Despite their success, Ducati are taking nothing for granted in the remaining 10 races.

"I'm enjoying the races as they come and if you start looking at a championship, maybe you start to get too involved with it," Stoner said after Sunday's success.

They know what they are up against in Rossi, as dominant in MotoGP as Michael Schumacher was in Formula One with Ferrari.

"In Barcelona he was 0.09 (seconds) from the victory, so I don't think Valentino is different to what he was before," said Suppo. "He is always a seven times world champion and probably the strongest rider of this era.

"That's why we are so proud to be so strong. This is Valentino's era ... To be able to fight with him for the championship is impressive."