Australian MotoGP rider Casey Stoner heads to Mugello this weekend in a positive mood, despite his championship hopes already hanging by a thread after just three races.
Stoner has just one fifth place finish this year after retiring in the season-opener in Bahrain and last round in France.
He is languishing in 14th place on the championship standings, already 59 points behind leader Jorge Lorenzo, who has won the past two races.
However, the 2007 world champion remains unfazed heading into Sunday's race and is confident of a strong finish at the race he won last year.
"Obviously Mugello hasn't come at a positive moment for us but this is our situation and we have to try and look forward, taking things race by race and not worrying too much about the championship," Stoner said.
"That is what I am most interested in right now and we want to get the bottom of this problem we're having with the front end."
"We have a few things to try at Mugello and we will be working as hard as always to achieve our goals."
"Generally the bike is working well and we have the pace to fight with the guys at the front so it is just a case of continuing to work hard to solve this issue."
Ducati Corse general director Filippo Preziosi admitted that Stoner is struggling, but hopes to see improvement this weekend.
"Casey is definitely going through a difficult period but his talent is under no question and we will keep working calmly, as we always do, to try and improve the situation whether it is from a technical perspective like bringing some new forks, which we'll be doing this weekend, or working on finding the right set-up for the race."