STONER RULES OUT FULL-TIME RACING RETURN
"I
t's not going to happen."
That was two-time MotoGP
World Champion Casey Stoner's
response to questions present-
ed to him by Italian publication
Motosprint on the possibility of
a full-time MotoGP racing return,
now he's back with Ducati as an
ambassador and test rider for
2016.
There is still the possibility of
seeing Stoner on the grid in a
wildcard capacity, but even that
is not a priority at this stage.
"I'm perfectly aware that if I
wanted to race, Ducati would put
everything at my disposal imme-
diately, but for now we have only
defined a test plan," Stoner told
Motosprint. "Before going beyond
that, I want to see how testing
goes. At that point we'll decide."
Nobody needs reminding the
last rider to win a race for Ducati
was Stoner himself at the 2010
Australian MotoGP at Phillip
Island, and it's a situation Stoner
wants to rectify in his role as of-
ficial test rider alongside incum-
bent Ducati tester Michelle Pirro.
"I have a task that also be-
comes an objective," he said.
I want to work well with [Ducati
general manager] Gigi dall'Igna,
so I want to help engineers and
riders while we work on the new
bike's development program. My
objective is to make a contribu-
tion to the cause, to make Ducati
win races again."
Stoner also said he felt Rep-
sol Honda's Marc Marquez was
threatened by his presence in
the team, which helped him in
his decision to switch back to
Ducati for 2016.
"At Honda I was just an oc-
casional tester, I did not have
any other role, and to tell you
the truth, they never took full
advantage of my potential," he
said. "I think Marquez and all
his entourage felt threatened
by me. I don't know why they
thought that, but that's my feel-
ing. I was at Honda to do some
testing, to try new things that
could then be transferred to the
works riders, so I was there to
help Marc.
"But it's also true that the
number one rider is the one
everyone must follow." CN
IN
THE
WIND
P38
Stoner won't be
coming back full-time,
but that's not to say he
won't race…
