Casey Stoner now on a Ducati

With the 2006 championship now over (refer last post) I thought I would take this opportunity to comment on  Australian wunderkind Casey Stoner’s recent move to Ducati. He has signed a one year deal to join Loris Caparossi in the factory Ducati team in MotoGP for 2007.

The deal sees Casey rightfully get a ride on a full factory team rather than a ‘satellite’ team which he has raced for through out his GP career. This kid can ride and he is a true ‘Racer’, but he still has a lot to learn. Racing is not about winning by being the fastest; it is winning by going only as fast as you need to. It is a subtle difference, but important none the less.

Casey throughout his career has been guilty of ‘pushing’ too hard in a race and paying for it through a crash. Who could forget last years Phillip Island 250cc race, when in the lead, Casey lost the front end at MG corner, to wipe out his chances of a possible Championship win.

Don’t get me wrong, Casey shouldn’t lose this ‘hunger to win’, and I myself on track days get a little of the ‘red mist’ and push myself (almost coming a cropper at Broadford twice this year), but he needs to take a more measured / mature approach.

Why is this an important issue for him? Well, as Casey has said himself, no one wins a championship on a non factory bike in the modern MotoGP, but being on a factory bike brings an extra expectation to win, and perform consistently.

Now if Casey is always pushing, and has a few more years where he cannot be consistent, he runs the risk of losing his standing with the factory. This is not something you want to do (Although surprisingly Carlos ‘Chucka’ Checa is still racing – but he is now to replace Casey at LCR – a bit of a nowhere man).

What should help is having team-mate Caparossi to learn from. Loris is a great rider and they should compliment each other well.

With next years bikes going to 800cc, the signing of Casey is a positive move for them, especially as it means Sete Giberneau has been give the heave ho. The 800’s should suit the next wave of riders such as Stoner, Pedrosa and Melandri who all have done well on the 990cc bikes. The factories now realise (somewhat belatedly) that these guys are the future of the series and are quite rightfully throwing their weight behind them. With Valentino predicted to retire in the next tow years, they need to find the next big thing.

I look forward to many on track battles between the new breed in the coming years.

Cheers

Dave