He may have officially retired from MotoGP, but Casey Stoner remains Honda’s top tester, and he got some time in on their factory bike last week.
Stoner rode the 2014 and 2015 RC213V at Sepang, testing the chassis, new brakes from Brembo and some other upgraded bits. HRC also got him to do some hot laps on the CBR1000RR they’re planning to run at the Suzuka 8-Hour this year.
Stoner said he “got a lot done” and said the test was positive, but didn’t give away any tips as to what to expect from this year’s Honda machine. He did say that “Riding the CBR was very different, I’ve never really ridden that kind of bike, the shifting, riding position, engine power, weight characteristic etc was quite difficult and took some getting used to.
“After a few exits I had more of an understanding and was able to give some feedback. In general it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being able to feel the rear of the bike step out!”
It makes us wonder – will HRC be able to talk Stoner into running at Suzuka? That would be an interesting move, for sure.
