Stoner looking for three in a row at Silverstone

Stoners Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizios spent last week within grasp of the final podium spot before running out of laps. He missed the podium by less than a second. His consolation was that he moved into third in the championship just behind Stoner.

"In terms of race pace, in Catalunya we made a step forward compared to Le Mans, where we finished second. In Catalunya we were fourth, as I couldn't make use of the bike's full potential due to tricky track conditions, but we were fast, finishing five seconds behind Casey." Dovizios said.

"I'm very motivated to race in UK; in Donington I won my first MotoGP race and last year I took second position at Silverstone, where we raced for the first time. It will be important to work well from the first session and to be focused to get the best set-up. I'm sorry to hear that Dani won't race in Silverstone. I wish him a good recovery and I hope he will return soon."

While Stoner and Dovizios are ooking forward to returning to the UK, their team-mate Dani Pedrosa won't be making the trip.

Pedrosa was forced to miss his home race in Catalunya when he suffered a broken right collarbone in a racing incident with Marco Simoncelli in Le Mans.

Earlier this week, Pedrosa announced that he'd sit out Silverstone to allow his surgically repaired collarbone time to fully heal before returning to the rigors of racing.

Given that Silverstone is the second of six races in eight weeks, Pedrosa's injury couldn't have come at a worse time. In the meantime, the Honda banner will be carried high by Stoner and his fellow Red Riders.

Main Photo: Casey Stoner
Credit: HRC