Aussie Casey Stoner was fastest at Qatar, now looking to repeat that success in Spain this weekend.

Australia’s MotoGP world title leader Casey Stoner is hoping that his switch to Honda during the off-season will be enough to boost him to victory at Jerez in Spain on Sunday.

Repsol Honda’s Stoner has been on a tear since joining the Honda team. Nowhere was it more evident than in Qatar as he led all but one session in the run-up to the race, which he earned the desert victory for the fourth time in the past five years.

The Jerez de la Frontera track is a very different racetrack than the Losail Circuit and one at which Stoner hasn’t had as much success, his best finish is a third in 2009.

Given the way he’s adapted to the Honda RC212V, there’s no reason to believe he can’t change that in the first European race of the season.

But the 2007 MotoGP World Champion knows it won’t be easy. Teammate Dani Pedrosa was a strong challenger in Qatar before slowing late in the race with physical limitations and world champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) will be out to avenge the loss he suffered at Stoner’s hands in Qatar.

“In the last few years, I haven’t had very good results at Jerez, as I could be fast,” he commented. “But in the race things didn’t always go my way.

“After the good start of this season, we have the chance to complete a positive weekend. The championship has just started and we have a lot of work to do.”

Practice will commence on Friday ahead of this weekend’s second round of season 2011.