Stoner warns against overconfidence

The Australian rider is leading the championship after having scored three wins in four races, and will arrive at next week's French Grand Prix with a 15-point lead over Yamaha rival Valentino Rossi.

Stoner, however, is not getting carried away yet, and has vowed to keep on working hard to stay on top of the standings until the end of the season.

"So far, this season is pretty much a dream come true," said Stoner. "Now we've got to keep our heads down, make sure we don't get too confident, keep putting in the hard work and maybe things will pay off.

"In China everything worked out just perfectly again, though it was a very, very difficult race. We'll have to wait and see what happens at Le Mans. I've always been around fourth there, in fact I've finished fourth three times from the last four years.

"Le Mans is definitely for the brave with a lot of out-braking going on, plus there's a few good chicanes to sort people out. I normally go well there in practice, I just don't get it right in the race, maybe this year we can change that."

In contrast, Italian teammate Loris Capirossi is looking to bounce back from a disappointing start to the season at Le Mans.

The veteran rider is currently eighth in the standings, 56 points behind Stoner.

"I haven't had the luckiest start to this season but I am really looking forward to all the races coming up because I know they will give me a chance to get some points back," Capirossi. said.

"Casey has proved that the GP7 is a winning machine and this year's Bridgestone tyres are very good, so I am confident I can perform well over the next few races."