Stoner Makes It Three From Four in China

Casey Stoner's bid to become the first Australian to win a grand prix world title since Mick Doohan took his fifth 500cc crown in 1998 continued apace, as he won his third race in four starts at the China Grand Prix to lead the MotoGP championship by 15 points.

"After the third race it was really a dream come true and today it's unrealistic," the 21-year-old told reporters.

"Compared to last season, it's just black and white. Last year I had to go very, very hard just to do the same lap times and I really struggled and that's what caused me to crash.

"This year I'm trying to ride within myself and so we just keep the lap times constant and don't make any mistakes."

The pace of the Ducati certainly helped him beat off the challenge of seven-times world champion Valentino Rossi in Shanghai but Stoner said he also expected to be competitive on the slower European tracks coming up next on the calendar.

"These fast tracks are not my favourite tracks and when we get into the European ones ... we can hopefully make more results like this," he said.

Stoner, who won the season-opener in Qatar and in Turkey two weeks ago, said on Friday he was fed up with people focusing so much on the intimidating pace of this year's Ducati.

"I think people should stop talking about the speed of the Ducati and talk about the fact that it does go around corners as well," he said.

"For sure we're not going to have too many problems getting past people at this track but we still have to get it around the rest of the circuit."

Stoner was born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, but his parents were forced to up sticks and moved to Europe to help him fulfil his dream of racing in the 125cc, 250cc and now MotoGP.

His impressive start to the season has prompted comparisons with great Australian riders of the past like Doohan and 1987 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner.

"I'm very proud to be Australian but also don't think that riders should be compared to fellow countrymen," he said. "I've got a lot of respect for the Australians who came through in different eras because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have the love and the urge to race now.

"We're different riders, different era so I think people should stop comparing and just show respect for the times that they had."