Stoner hunting Lorenzo at Silverstone

The MotoGP title makes its way to historic Silverstone this weekend, where Australia’s Casey Stoner will be aiming for three wins in a row on his factory Honda.

Stoner moved up to just 7pts behind Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) after his last start victory at Catalunya, but the reigning world champion is ready for combat: he likes the Silverstone circuit and dominated the proceedings last year with pole position, race win and fastest lap.

If Stoner wins at Silverstone he will be the first Honda rider to win three successive MotoGP races since Valentino Rossi in 2003. The Australian will also be making his 150th Grand Prix start at the British GP.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) finished second on the podium last year at Silverstone and is prepared to shoot for another podium finish at the British circuit, one he enjoys and is confident on. The Italian sits third in the championship standings.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati) missed the British GP last year due to the injuries suffered in his crash at Mugello, but he recently completed some laps on a road-spec Ducati 1198. He has finished in the top seven in all 16 races since returning from injury at the German GP last year.

Rossi’s team-mate Nicky Hayden crossed the line fourth last year at Silverstone, after qualifying and finishing one place higher on the grid than his then team-mate Stoner.

MotoGP rookie Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) is fired up for his home GP, fresh from claiming his best result of the season so far with seventh place at Catalunya on Sunday. Crutchlow took a double win, from pole, in last year's Silverstone world Superbike round. His finish at Catalunya is the best result by a British rider in MotoGP since James Toseland finished sixth at Indianapolis in 2009.

Ben Spies (Yamaha) finished third last year at Silverstone, his first podium in grand prix racing, after passing Nicky Hayden on the last lap. The Texan’s third place finish at the Catalan GP last weekend was his first podium since Indianapolis last year, and he is currently seventh in the championship.

And it’s just been announced that Spies has signed a one-year contract extension at Yamaha, which will tie him to the manufacturer until at least the end of 2012.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) enters the British Grand Prix confident after marching to pole position during qualifying at the Catalunya Grand Prix, despite being unable to convert his first MotoGP pole position beyond a sixth place finish.

His pole in Catalunya was the first for a Honda rider who was not part of the factory team since Stoner was fastest qualifier in Qatar in 2006. Simoncelli finished seventh last year at Silverstone which was his best result from his first seven starts in the MotoGP class.

Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing Ducati) had a good showing at Silverstone in 2010 when he qualified second on the grid. During the race he was in third with just four laps remaining but then suffered with front tyre problems and dropped to sixth by the chequered flag.

Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati) raced in the Moto2 class at Silverstone last year, though he crashed on the last lap. He has scored points in four of his first five MotoGP races, including three top 10 finishes.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) is set to return to racing at Silverstone, the Catalunya GP being the first race the Texan missed since making his MotoGP debut in 2003 after he crashed and fractured a collarbone in FP2 at Catalunya. Edwards qualified 10th and finished ninth last year at the Silverstone circuit.

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) is hoping to redefine the Silverstone circuit for himself, after he suffered a high side during Sunday morning warm-up last year, resulting in a broken vertebra that caused him to miss the British race and the following five rounds.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa will not be participating in the British GP round as he continues to recover from a broken right collarbone sustained at the Le Mans race.

Qualifying action will be screen on ONE at 11:00pm Saturday, followed by racing at 8:00pm Sunday.