Stoner not thinking of title yet

The Ducati rider saw his 21-point championship lead reduced to just nine after Yamaha rival Valentino Rossi took a dominant victory at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Stoner had to settle for fourth position, six seconds behind Rossi, who took his sixth consecutive victory at Mugello.

"As I've always said, I don't think about the title," Stoner told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Since the start of the season I've been facing the championship thinking one race at a time, I don't care about the rest.

"The important thing is to solve the problems that slowed us down at Mugello for Barcelona."

The Australian admitted he was not surprised to see Rossi winning his home race, despite Ducati's superior top speed along the Italian track's long straight.

"Absolutely not," Stoner said. "Here Valentino won for the last five years and he's always been extremely quick. He remains the benchmark, the rider to beat. For me it's a honour to fight against Rossi."

Stoner insisted he could have been more competitive had he been able to do more set-up work in the dry.

"The weather conditions during practice conditioned the set-up work, and we ran too little in the dry," he added. "The objective was to get on the podium, but the way it turned out, fourth place represents the best possible result. At least for me.

"It would have gone differently (had it rained): we were more competitive in the wet."

The Australian, however, is confident he will be able to fight on top at the next race in Barcelona.

"The Ducati-Bridgestone package is very well balanced so I think we have the potential to do well on any track. Last year in Barcelona I was having a good race before falling, but the important thing will be to find the right set-up for the GP7."