Heading into round four of the championship at Le Mans in France this weekend, the 16-year-old from Kurri Kurri in New South Wales has 10 world championship points from his sixth place finish in the previous round at Jerez in Spain.

The rising star has twice qualified in the top eight, making him the youngest rider to do so in 250cc GP races, but has said he won't be satisfied until he is on the podium.

"I was very pleased to get my first finish and points in the 250cc class at Jerez, however I will never be really happy with my result until I am on the podium," Stoner said.

"I'm sure that if I work hard enough then I can make this happen. I know that I've got a lot more to get out of myself, and I'll keep going and concentrating on every race as they come along."

Last year Stoner competed in the British and Spanish national 125cc championships, winning nine races, and had 125cc GP wildcards at the British and Australian GPs, but he is a newcomer to many of the circuits on the MotoGP calendar, including the famous Le Mans.

"I'm looking forward to the next race in France - again it's a circuit I haven't been to before, except on my Playstation, so I will have to learn the real circuit in the Friday morning practice," Stoner said.

"But it doesn't bother me too much, especially now we're back in Europe (after the early-season races in Japan and South Africa). I'll be on the same Aprilia bike, in the same conditions, and I'll be going there to give it my best shot as always. Really, at every race you just try as hard as you can and then see what happens on the day."

The highly-regarded young Australian, who rides for the Italian-run Safilo Oxydo Race LCR team, crashed out of the first two rounds of the season but ran as high as second at the Welkom circuit in South Africa and at Jerez.  Stoner's 250cc team boss, Lucio Cecchinello, races in the 125cc class and won that category at Jerez two weeks ago.

Just six points separate the top four rider in the 250cc championship, with this season's race wins shared between three riders ? championship leader Spaniard Fonsi Nieto, Japan's Osamu Miyazaki and Italian Marco Melandri.

Meanwhile, Australia's sole rider in the premier MotoGP category, Garry McCoy, will be battling painful memories after crashing in practice and breaking his wrist at Le Mans last year.

Combined with his controversial penalty for overtaking under yellow caution flags two weeks ago at Jerez, and his struggle to regain full fitness after breaking his leg in pre-season testing, the 30-year-old from Camden, on the outskirts of Sydney, will be hoping for a change of fortune.

Built in 1965 around the existing 24-hour sports car track, the 4.18km Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix circuit is five kilometres south of the city of Le Mans and 200km south-west of Paris. It is a tight track dominated by first-gear corners that place the emphasis on late braking and hard acceleration.

It may suit the lighter minimum weight two-stroke 500cc machines in terms in terms of braking performance, while the new four-strokes are expected to be strong driving off the slow-speed turns.

MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi is in scintillating form, but the Italian superstar has never won at Le Mans and may be challenged by his Honda team-mates, Tohru Ukawa (the only other race winner this season) and two-stroke riders, Italian Loris Capirossi and Japan's Daijiro Katoh.

Yamaha riders Max Biaggi and Carlos Checa scored a one-two victory at Le Mans last year, but Italian Biaggi has struggled so far this season, while Spaniard Checa is sixth in the championship, 43 points behind Rossi.

In the 125cc championship, series leader Arnaud Vincent will be favourite in front of his home crowd, while reigning champion Manuel Poggiali of San Marino will be keen to close the 24-point gap to the Frenchman.

Read our previous story and comments about Stoner's drams after Jerez