Stoner Could Be Back In Red!
Alan Cathcart | November 11, 2015
Phillip Island, 2010 – The last time a Ducati won a MotoGP race, now Ducati wants Casey back.
The racing world is abuzz right now with rumors former double MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner could be set for a return to Ducati as a test rider in 2016.
At the recent Valencia MotoGP, Ducati Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti would not confirm or deny the possibility of Ducati welcoming back its so far only MotoGP World Champion, saying to present journalists, “I can only say that Casey is a hero of Ducati fans and he won so many races and was a world champion for Ducati in 2007. He obviously moved to Honda but is still in the heart of Ducati fans and the people at Ducati. We will see what the future brings but we know that his contract with Honda will expire at the end of this year and obviously if there’s a chance to do something together we would love to do it. That’s all that I can say at the moment.”
Stoner is said to be unhappy with Honda’s treatment of him as a test rider, ignoring his feedback at various tests he conducted for the Repsol Honda team. The Australian was apparently also aggrieved at being passed over for the Austin and Argentina MotoGP events in place of the injured Dani Pedrosa, a spot handed instead to fellow HRC test rider Hiroshi Aoyama.
Should Casey re-sign with Ducati, there is a strong possibility he could participate in selected wildcard events, much like current factory tester Michelle Pirro, although a full-time return to the series appears unlikely at this stage.
Stoner’s contract with HRC is until December 31 this year, so no announcement is expected until January 1 at the earliest.