There was a furore in the racing circles when the Australian ace Casey Stoner signed up with Ducati as test rider early this year. With speculations rife about the two-time MotoGP champion making it back to the grid, Ducati has confirmed that Stoner will continue testing and not race.
Casey Stoner retired from MotoGP racing on his own terms back in 2012 after he was crowned champion for the second time in the 2011 season. He continued testing motorcycles for Honda till 2015. Claudio Domenicali, CEO Ducati, said that Stoner will continue testing the 2016 and 2017 MotoGP race machines but not participate in the championship.
The Ducati factory team challenge for the championship will be led by Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, aiming to win at least two races in the upcoming season. The satellite team, Pramac Ducati will be led by Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding. The Italian racing teams will certainly benefit from Stoner’s experience with Ducati and also his slightly unconventional riding technique for better race setups.
The 2016 MotoGP racing season will begin in March 2016 while the testing sessions will be on from January. With Marc Marquez losing his championship to Jorge Lorenzo and owing to the controversial end of the last season, the 2016 season may turn out to be one of the most fiercely fought championships in the history of MotoGP. Veteran Valentino Rossi will want to win his tenth world championship to surpass Giacomo Agostini’s record nine world championships.
