Austrian MotoGP: “Stoner is testing there because he wants to race there next month”

Austrian MotoGP: “Stoner is testing there because he wants to race there next month.”

There’s a hot rumour doing the rounds this morning that Casey Stoner is testing the factory Ducati at Austria today and tomorrow as a pre-cursor to him racing properly in a month’s time.

Following on from the Sachsenring race last weekend there is a mass of MotoGP squads heading to the Red Bull Ring for the next 48 hours of testing. The only team that won’t be at the track is Repsol Honda. 

Part of the Ducati testing squad is Casey Stoner, the Australian is performing part of his usual testing duties for the red team – well, that’s the official story. None other than Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci has been talking about what he sees as the real reason for Stoner getting out in anger on the red bikes at a track that the former double MotoGP world champion has been very vocal about over the levels of safety.

Speaking to GPone.com, Petrucci didn’t hold back in what he thinks, saying: “I think Casey wants to see if he’s competitive, because he wants to race in Austria.

“This winter I talked at length with him, I also asked him to ride my bike after the acccident. He told me he didn’t want to race anymore, that is was no longer his life because in the end a MotoGP rider only spends 5% of his time riding the bike.

“I saw him riding at Sepang, he was fast and wasn’t pushing. He’s quick over the flying lap, we need to see over race distance. Austria could be the right place for a wildcard, that track should favour the Ducati. There are three straights and few corners, seven right and two left, the Desmosedici can make the difference in acceleration.

“I think Casey wants to test to see if he’s fast, then he’ll decide. I’m sure that he’ll be quick, but hopefully not fast enough to be in front of me.”