Casey Stoner’s first stage finish of the 2010 season at Assen has allowed the Aussie more desire to secure a more permanent return to the rostrum, the Ducati Team racer has made a tough beginning to the year but is preparing for the next round at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya this weekend.

“I have had some fantastic races at Catalunya in the past and others not so good but generally I have very fond memories there,” states Stoner, who was victorious at Montmeló in 2007 and has placed third in the last two seasons there. “I hope we can get around the issues we usually have there and be competitive because gradually we are getting better, but we need to start picking up the results to show for it; it would be nice to start doing that at Catalunya.”

He adds, “The layout is really nice, it’s quite a classic, but sometimes with our bike we have struggled to find grip there. We have to try and sort that out this year and hopefully I can have some fun because we normally get some really close racing here.”

Ducati Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi says Stoner’s Dutch finish was the inspiration he needed, and is sure his progress can continue at Catalunya.

“Barcelona brings us to the end of a series of three consecutive races during which time we have worked a lot on the set-up of the GP10 with both our riders,” says Guareschi. “Casey in particular needed to rediscover his confidence with the front and he was satisfied with the progress we made at Assen. At Catalunya, where there are a lot of long, flat corners, it will be important to build on what we have found so far as well as finding good rear grip.”