This has got to be good news. It adds spice to the curry. What with Rossi loathing Marquez and Lorenzo already, we should end up with a vindaloo, and that can only be good for the racing. We will now also find out just how good the Ducati really is - unless Stoner has lost his edge in the interim (possible).
you never know, after the time he's had away from the paddock, a couple of years with family to mature, he might even come back faster....seriously Lets be honest, in his last two seasons he was fast, faster than anybody else on that grid and at a time he was clearly torn in his own mind about his life and what he wanted. With Honda he's largely been given a bike to test thats not factory (customer honda) and then only on a few occasions a factory bike just trying parts. If...and its a big IF, he's given purely the factory bike of Ducati to test and frequently, i think its easily likely he'll get back up to speed, possibly more so when he starts realising he's still fast. Take away the mental strains he had in his last couple of years not enjoying the paddock and you might have a refreshed stoner on your hands that could really spice things up. i just hope he enjoys himself, that way he'll push for a seat
Time away from the paddock? He's been a test rider for Honda and raced the Suzuka 8 hour this year, and was leading until the Honda got a stuck throttle and he crashed out!
It's interesting that Stoner gets on well with Lorenzo and Pedrosa, but not Rossi. Common denominator ?
Well yes but other than the Suzuka he's only ridden for hrc a couple of times a year, according to reports far less than he'd have liked. I guess comparatively speaking he's been away from the paddock when you consider the difference between a private test day vs a Sunday race day
Official: Casey Stoner Leaves Honda, Becomes Test Rider And Brand Ambassador For Ducati | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks citing SPEEDWEEK MotoGP - Casey Stoner: Wird er für Ducati auch Rennen fahren?
Cheers Cobbett. I was trying to find the article I read it on, but couldn't as it wasn't one of my regular websites. So MM and Honda were criticising Stoner for being a second of off MM, when he only rode the bike twice? Sounds impressive to me. You have to wonder how much impact a rider can have over two tests? I would think not a lot.
Pretty sure both those times were rain affected as well, Honda's testing was badly affected by rain throughout 2014/15 Anyway I am pretty sure Stoner can still serve it up to the Spanish brats Craig
Also, those times will have been affected by having a new part to test every session. Try clocking in consistently fast laps when you get a new swinger one minute, then different electronics the next.
