VOL. 53 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 15, 2016 P39
LAVERTY OPEN
FOR MOTOGP
E
ugene Laverty's departure from MotoGP
to World Superbikes might not mean we
never see the Ulsterman in MotoGP again.
After an impressively consistent season,
Laverty quit the Aspar team after learning
that new signing Alvaro Bautista would get
the single factory Ducati next year, and he
would again be stuck with a hand-me-down.
His new employers are Aprilia, and rac-
ing chief Romano Albesiano revealed at
Valencia that "we agreed with him to have
a [MotoGP] testing contract, and to be first
choice as reserve rider."
Michael Scott
STONER: STILL NOT IMPRESSED
N
ine different winners this year in MotoGP? One man who thinks it might have been different had he
still been riding is Casey Stoner.
The double World Champion and nowadays Ducati factory test rider was at Valencia for the final
round, and once again underlined his dislike of dumbed-down racing, where the like of supply elec-
tronics and stock tires have helped to produce a panoply of different winners.
"It's a good show, but to me racing should be about excellence," he said.
Stoner quit unexpectedly at age 27 after having become a fierce critic of moves to dumb down rac-
ing technicalities, as well as deploring the off-track publicity and other commitments that came as a
burden. It robbed the sport of one of the
most naturally talented riders of all time.
Stoner said that in his test outings this
year, while it only takes a lap or two to get
back up to speed, the biggest problem is
physical. "The regular guys complain of
being physically tired after a weekend," he
said.
For Stoner, only riding every couple of
months, it was much more of an ordeal. "I
wish there was something [form of training]
that replicated what a MotoGP bike does to
you, but there isn't."
Michael Scott
We could see Eugene Laverty pop up at a MotoGP next year.
Casey Stoner
is still not
ready to accept
"dumbed-down"
racing.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
