The rumour has been confirmed. Casey Stoner returns to Ducati, as a test rider but with possible wildcard appearance.
I saw him win the MotoGP in Valencia 2008, the year after I saw him crash in front of the Ducati stand, on the warm up lap. I nearly cried. Apparently, there was a mechanical failure. For us, on the grandstand at the first corner, it just looked utterly strange. I was so sure that he would win and the sight of this ridiculous crash shocked me. However, the championship was already out of reach so it made no difference in the big scheme of things, I just lost out on some good racing.
Now that he is back, I will keep my fingers crossed for some wild card appearances. Ideally, I would have wanted to see Stoner race Marquez on equal material, i.e. the factory Honda. Apparently, Honda wasn’t interested in that when Pedrosa was injured and there could have been an opportunity. Perhaps they were worried that Stoner would threaten their golden boy. However, to see Stoner back on a Ducati would be almost as good, I believe his strength is that he can adapt his riding to different bikes successfully. The Ducatis are competitive again, Dovizioso has proved that. Welcome back Stoner, I have missed you!
