I could be world champ - Stoner

After a brilliant sixth in his maiden race in Spain, Stoner said: "I'm using this year basically as a guide to whether I can make it or not."

Soon after another sixth place in Brno following the mid-season break, Stoner was lying sixth overall in the World Championship standings - and sure in his own mind of the answer to that question.

"Now I believe there is a big chance I can become World Champion if things progress the way they are," said Stoner, who will race at Phillip Island on a Honda run by long-time mentor Lucio Cecchinello's team.

"At the beginning of the season I couldn't believe it.

"In the first two races we were really competitive. I was surprised I was able to run up front, but now I'm constantly running up front and I expect myself to be there.

"Now I have myself a seat I can run competitively: that's enough for me at the moment."

While he came off his 250cc machine early in last year's Phillip Island race, Stoner is eager for the challenge of the world's best circuit on a big MotoGP machine.

"If we get the set-up decent we should be pretty competitive most weekends," he said.

"It helps knowing I have a lot of people behind me in my home race, but it's also about the circuit itself: it's just a great place to ride."

On the other hand, Stoner dismisses the received idea that a rider's home track gives him any real edge at this level.

"I hear so many people saying, 'I didn't know the track,' but Dani (his fellow-rookie Dani Pedrosa) and I went to Laguna Seca this year for the first time and were running third and fourth on what is supposedly one of the hardest tracks.

"For me, 'not knowing the track' is a big excuse. And the thing about coming to the Island is it feels new anyway because we haven't been there to race for a year."

Despite last year's fall, Stoner will not back off on his return to Phillip Island: "I'd take the opportunity to go for the win if it arose," he said defiantly.

"Last time I had to be aggressive: I still had a slim chance of the 250 title and second place was safe so I went in with everything I had. This year I'm in a learning position - but I'm not going to take it too cautiously."

Source: GP Corp (See our Motoracing section for a Stoner interview.)