Reigning world champion Casey Stoner knows he must win this weekend's San Marino GP if he is to have any chance of defending his title.
Valentino Rossi holds a 50-point lead over the Australian, but Stoner wants to keep up the pressure on the Italian and close that gap with a win this weekend.
Stoner won this event last year by five seconds and will head into this year's race confident of another victory.
"We had a great result at Misano last year and that, added to the fact that we're in good shape with the set-up and the tyres, means we can be reasonably confident of another good result here," said Stoner.
"After the last few races and in the recent test at Brno we've managed to improve the set-up even more so we're confident of putting on a good show for the home fans at Misano."
"It is quite a tight and twisty track and the surface is quite bumpy but there are some really fun sections."
While Rossi winning this year's championship seems a foregone conclusion, Stoner has vowed to fight right to the end.
"We'll see what happens but we're in good shape - the gap in the championship is big but we'll keep fighting until it's over," Stoner added.
Ducati Project Director Livio Suppo is also confident his star driver can produce goods in Misano.
"Over the past five rounds Casey has shown incredible speed from the opening practice session at a variety of circuits and even though he hasn't got the points to show for it, he's in outstanding form and we're sure he'll also be on the pace at Misano," said Suppo.
Valentino Rossi holds a 50-point lead over the Australian, but Stoner wants to keep up the pressure on the Italian and close that gap with a win this weekend.
Stoner won this event last year by five seconds and will head into this year's race confident of another victory.
"We had a great result at Misano last year and that, added to the fact that we're in good shape with the set-up and the tyres, means we can be reasonably confident of another good result here," said Stoner.
"After the last few races and in the recent test at Brno we've managed to improve the set-up even more so we're confident of putting on a good show for the home fans at Misano."
"It is quite a tight and twisty track and the surface is quite bumpy but there are some really fun sections."
While Rossi winning this year's championship seems a foregone conclusion, Stoner has vowed to fight right to the end.
"We'll see what happens but we're in good shape - the gap in the championship is big but we'll keep fighting until it's over," Stoner added.
Ducati Project Director Livio Suppo is also confident his star driver can produce goods in Misano.
"Over the past five rounds Casey has shown incredible speed from the opening practice session at a variety of circuits and even though he hasn't got the points to show for it, he's in outstanding form and we're sure he'll also be on the pace at Misano," said Suppo.
