Stoner still taking it race by race

The Ducati Marlboro rider has a 26-point lead in the title chase from Valentino Rossi, with many regarding him as the clear favourite now that he has won five out the eight races held so far this year.

But despite that position, he insists his priority is still to have fun at each event rather than start worrying about his title ambitions.

When asked by autosport.com whether he was really not thinking about the championship yet, he said: "There are small flashes here and there, but I am still enjoying each race as it comes.

"I just want to keep concentrating on each race, trying to enjoy it and try to do the best race at each circuit. We go to Assen and my view is it is not a world championship race; it is another race in the world championship.

"We have to concentrate on what we need for that race. We have just been doing that at each circuit this year, and it seems to be working."

Stoner admits he has been surprised that Ducati have maintained their level of dominance all season, having taken back-to-back wins in Barcelona and Donington Park.

"After China I was thinking: 'Right now, it is for sure going to be difficult'. But we have made some brilliant results since then, with two more wins, and we are still strong. So this is a good sign."

Stoner thinks his strength this year has simply been in making no mistakes in the races, which has allowed him to capitalise on the Ducati and Bridgestone package he has available to him.

"Every rider has strengths and weakness, and at the moment my strengths are Ducati and Bridgestone," he explained. "I've been working a lot harder this year to try and not make any mistakes and I think this is maybe one thing this year. I've not made any mistakes in races and this maybe causes the races to be quite good results.

"We don't have any real weaknesses this year. Donington isn't my favourite circuit but we had a great result there. Just because I don't like a circuit doesn't mean we can't perform well.

"Bridgestone have also been strong in the races where they were strong last year, and they have been strong in the tracks where they were weak last year. So I think they have just progressed. People can expect the Bridgestone to be competitive at each race this year."