Official: Stoner to Leave Ducati for Honda
As has been the subject of rumor for some time, Ducati today announced that 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner will leave Ducati at the end of the season. In a separate release Honda announces that he will be on a factory Honda in 2011, part of what HRC hopes will be a 3 rider team retaining their two current riders.
Stoner took Ducati to it’s first MotoGP title when in 2007 he and the combination of the new 800cc V4 and Bridgestone tires just gelled. For this reason he will always be an important part of Ducati racing history. However he has been the subject if controversy more lately.
Last season he excused himself from racing for 3 races with an unknown, mysterious illness which is now thought to be lactose intolerance. Despite this he came back with race winning form and remains one of the elite 4 aliens along with Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and of course Valentino Rossi.
“I would like to thank Casey on behalf of our fans and our sponsors, but most of all on behalf of all the people working at Ducati,” commented Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse General Director. “The victories and emotions he gave us, rewarded all the hard work and sacrifice we made. In these four years together we have had a lot of great moments. Securing the 2007 MotoGP World Championship title and the victory at Mugello in 2009 were moments that we will never forget. In Casey we not only found an incredibly talented rider, but also an honest and loyal guy and that’s why there will always be a strong and sincere bond between us, even as a competitor.”
“I must thank Ducati for giving me such a great opportunity to race and win with them over these past four years” commented Casey Stoner. “They took a gamble when they signed me at the end of 2006 as I was unknown, but as we worked together we were able to win a Championship, many races and challenge for the Championship in the last two seasons. I have now decided to move on and I will have new challenges in the future and different obstacles to overcome, but I will not forget these years with Ducati and the people I have had the privilege to work so closely with. So a big thanks to Ducati and all our sponsors who we have shared success with while achieving lifelong goals”
There has been no announcement of who will replace Stoner as the number one rider at Ducati but surely now the elements are finally in place for Rossi to make a move as Ducari News Today has predicted for some time.
Silly season just got super interesting!
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