Stoner: my confidence is sky high

The Ducati Marlboro rider proved that he could withstand race-long pressure from Valentino Rossi with a brilliant win in the Grand Prix of Catalunya that helped extend his title lead to 14 points.

But when asked by autosport.com whether that Barcelona victory was a key event in lifting his confidence Stoner was adamant that events at Qatar and Jerez earlier in the campaign were much more important.

"I always knew I could overtake during the whole season, there hasn't been anyone that I can't overtake, but there was just no reason to risk it on the brakes," said Stoner, whose early season victories were helped by the straightline speed advantage his Ducati bike has.

"If I have a bit more speed then I could just use that advantage, and it hasn't boosted my confidence any more than the other races did.

"The first race of the season is what boosted my confidence the most and maybe even Jerez was the biggest thing for me.

"That is a circuit we were struggling on with the Ducati and at the end of the race, if I hadn't got held up, we could have arrived on the podium and been really fast.

"That was the main part of the season for me. Barcelona didn't ruin my confidence or boost it."

Stoner has also denied suggestions that he was upset with Rossi after the Barcelona event, having been widely quoted as saying that some of the Fiat Yamaha rider's moves were 'questionable.'

"That is a load of shit," he said when asked about the stories that were based on an interview he did with the official MotoGP website. "If you listen to the interview you will understand it, or if you read exactly what I said you will understand.

"People are taking the first five words of what I said, and putting it on paper. If you read the whole thing you will understand what I mean."