VOL. 55 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 9, 2018 P41
STONER AND BRADL TO TEST
IN SEPANG
T
he first MotoGP test of 2018 at Sepang on
January 28-30 will see Casey Stoner on track
for Ducati, with newly signed Honda MotoGP test
rider Stefan Bradl making his debut for the team.
Stoner's now customary early season hit out at
Sepang for Ducati will see him team with Michele
Pirro on the new GP18 before regular season rid-
ers Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo take to
the Malaysian venue. Bradl, meanwhile, will test
for the factory Honda squad alongside Takumi
Takahashi and Hiroshi Aoyama as they shake
down the 2018 factory Honda RC213V ahead of
World Champion Marc Marquez' and Dani Pedro-
sa's debut with the new machine.
Ducati and Honda's test team will be joined by
KTM's Mika Kallio, while Aprilia will field Matteo
Biaocco and Suzuki will have former WorldSBK
Champion Sylvain Guintoli on board.
As for Yamaha, they will have All Japan SBK
riders Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Kohta Nozane on
the factory YZR-M1 at a private test as well as the
Malaysian test, with Valentino Rossi and Maverick
Vinales joining the team for the final two days at
Sepang. CN
ASPAR TEAM RENAMED ANGEL
NIETO TEAM
T
he MotoGP Aspar Team will be renamed the Angel
Nieto Team for 2018 and beyond, a move from four-time
World Champion and team owner Jorge Martinez "Aspar"
to honor the memory of his great friend and mentor, 12+1
World Champion Angel Nieto, who passed away last year
following an accident while riding a quad on the holiday
island of Ibiza.
The move will see Nieto's oldest son Gelete—who raced
for Martinez from 1993 to 1997, making 28 Grand Prix ap-
pearances—take on a management role in the team that will compete in the CEV Junior World Champi-
onship, Moto3 and MotoGP.
"I took my first steps in racing with Jorge Martinez 'Aspar;' he guided me to the top step of the po-
dium in the European and Spanish Championships," explains Gelete Nieto. "He has always been an
important person to our family and alongside him I am now about to start a new chapter of my profes-
sional life on a team that will carry the name of my father. 2016 was his 50th season in the World Cham-
pionship and I am sure he would have loved to be around for a few more. Motorcycles were his way of
life and through this team we will make sure he remains in touch with his great passion." CN
Stoner will once
again be back on the
factory Ducati for the
Malaysian test this
January.
Nieto's
memory will
live on with the
announcement
of the Aspar
Team being
renamed in
his honor.
