Casey Stoner seeking first Jerez victory

A 40-time grand prix winner, there are not many circuits that reigning double MotoGP champion Casey Stoner hasn't conquered - but Jerez, venue for this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, is one of them.

Stoner has raced in ten Spanish Grands Prix since 2002 - on 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP machinery - but has taken just one podium, a third place in the 2009 MotoGP event.

The Australian looked to have an excellent chance of a debut victory after qualifying his Repsol Honda on pole last year, but race day rain and being caught up in Valentino Rossi's accident (pictured) left Stoner with his only DNF of the season.

Stoner arrives for the first European round of the year confident that the arm pump troubles that saw him slip from first to third in the opening Qatar round are under control, although he still has chatter issues with his RC213V to solve.

"After a difficult race in Qatar, I'm looking forward to Jerez," said Stoner, fastest in March's pre-season test at the same circuit.

"We had a very good pre-season test there, it's a track that hasn't been so good for me in the past so the fact we were able to hold a good pace there in testing has given us a lot of confidence.

"We still have some issues that we really need to resolve with the bike especially the chattering in the entrance and exit of the corner, when we solve these we believe we will have a very competitive package.

"Since Qatar I've been working on the arm pump issue I experienced in the race and it's definitely feeling better, we've treated it the same way as when I had it in 2010 at Silverstone so I'm hoping it won't be a problem for us this weekend."

Free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix starts on Friday.