However, the 16-year-old from Kurri Kurri in New South Wales, won't be taking any undue risks at the Catalunya GP.

With 30-year-old Sydney veteran Garry McCoy sidelined from the MotoGP world championship for several weeks by his leg injuries, Stoner's withdrawal from the Italian GP during 250cc qualifying at Mugello two weeks ago left Australia without a representative in any of the three categories for the first time since the 1984 San Marino GP.

Stoner fractured a scaphoid bone in his right wrist when he crashed out of the French GP four weeks ago.  While optimistic of racing this weekend, he will "wait and see how things go in Friday's practice" at the Catalunya circuit on the northern outskirts of Barcelona.

"My hand feels good, and I have more movement and feeling in it than I did at Mugello," Stoner said. "But after not having any feeling in my throttle hand in Italy, I have to make sure I can race without any pain-killers.

"I really hope it will be OK because I like the circuit here. It's interesting, and pretty technical, with some blind corners and fast bits.

"But if my wrist isn't right after practice or qualifying on Friday then I won't race. It's better that I wait until I'm 100 per cent healthy and can get results."

The 4.727km Catalunya track is one of the few on the MotoGP calendar that Stoner has ridden on previously. He tested there last year while competing in the Spanish national 125cc championship and has done a few laps this year on his new 250cc Aprilia.

Just a 10-minute drive from where the Stoner family bases its motorhome on the property of Spanish former 500cc ace Alberto Puig, Catalunya is considered one of the finest circuits in the world and is expected to attract up to 100,000 fans.

The highly-regarded Stoner, who rides for the Italian-run Safilo Oxydo Race LCR team, has crashed out of three of the four races he has started this season. However, he ran as high as second at the Welkom circuit in South Africa and fifth at Le Mans in France.

He became the youngest rider to score points in the 250cc world championship when he finished sixth at another Spanish circuit, Jerez, in the country's south-west, in the third race of the season.

He has qualified three times in the top eight, including twice in seventh place, making him the youngest rider to start in the first two rows of a 250cc grid.

McCoy is expected to return on his 500cc Yamaha for the British GP at Donington Park on July 12-14.

Frenchman Jean Michel Bayle, who replaced the injured McCoy in France and Italy, has been ruled out of this weekend's race with torn muscles in his left hand, and will be replaced by 22-year-old German Alex Hofmann.