Stoner completes two day test
Casey Stoner was back in action today to complete his two day test at Motegi with HRC.
After yesterday was deemed a washout with Stoner only managing six laps, today was a lot more fruitful for the Australian.
Today Stoner managed to post an impressive 47 laps, and tested the 2013 Honda RC213V and also managed to post some laps on the 2104 version that debuted in Aragon last June.
Despite the high profile nature of the test, HRC have been on lockdown to ensure no times were released. Press releases and photos have been released but despite Gabbarini’s presence HRC have been secretive to times posted by Stoner.
Speaking after the test Stoner said: “Thankfully today the weather improved a lot, in fact it was pretty hot, and we were able to get some good track time and work on our test programme.
“We had a productive day in general and thankfully the test plan wasn’t too hectic, so we were able to get most of it done today, after yesterday’s washout. It was great to see the team, even if there were only a few people here, and I thank Honda for all their support as ever.”
Stoner also fielded the inevitable question about a possible wildcard appearance this season, and typical to form he dead batted the question and denied he was going to return to MotoGP for a race.
“It felt really good to get back on the bike after nine months and I’m happy with how the test went, but it doesn’t change my mind about the wild-cards – this is not something I am planning to do,” said the former world champion.
HRC Executive Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto was also present at the test, and said: “Over the course of Casey’s two-day test, we’ve been able to gather a vast amount of data and ideas for development. Consequently, we aim to increase our pace of development and hope that this, in turn, will lead to us winning this year’s Championship.
“We focused exclusively on the RC213V, but in future tests, we’ll get Casey to test-ride the tentatively named MotoGP Production Racer and assist in raising its level of performance even further.”
Stoner will be doing two more tests with HRC, however details of those tests haven’t been released yet.