Bryan Staring to Gresini

Bryan Staring has supposedly signed for the Gresini team to ride their CRT machine for the 2013 season.

The 25 year old from Perth has been racing in World SuperStock and wild carded in World Superbike at his home round of Phillip Island for the Pedercini Kawasaki team.

Staring hasn’t set the world alight in the SuperStock class. He has claimed four rostrum finishes, three of which were wins in 2012 but surely not enough to warrant a MotoGP ride?

Gresini may have possibly looked to Staring due to the fact, that with Casey Stoner’s retirement there isn’t an Aussie in the MotoGP class. Phillip Island is a huge event in the calender and it may have been a push from Dorna to get an Aussie into the class.

Staring certainly looks an appointment out of left field, and not something which I think anybody could have predicted. Is it a sponsorship appointment? Is it a sign of faith by Fausto Gresini? Or is it a sign of how little appeal CRT machines now have?

Only time will tell us the answer to these questions, and maybe when the official confirmation come out it may be clearer.

What does appear clearer is that the dubbed idea, that Gresini would run a “customer” RC213V. Some of the theories floating around consisted of a test rider coming in, possibly even in the shape of Ryuichi Kiyonari for 2013 to test the “customer” machine prior to sale in 2014.

But if that is the case then it HRC would surely not leave Bryan Sterling to test the whole thing, but I’ve been wrong before.

Expect official confirmation on this deal before the end of the week.