According to Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport Casey Stoner may be meditating the idea to wildcard this year in two MotoGP rounds, at Phillip Island (October 20) and at Motegi (October 27) and riding his previous bike, the Honda RC213V.
The rumor apparently originated from an important Australian businessman who has interests in the V8 Supercars championship, where Stoner will shortly be debuting in the Dunlop V8 series with Red Bull’s Australia Racing team, and the retired MotoGP champion just received his licence to compete (he was given a waiver on the usual qualifications).
Returning to the rumor, the two MotoGP race dates wouldn’t coincide with the Dunlop championship schedule, and Shuhei Nakamoto did say after Stoner’s retirement that the door was open for a eventual return, “if he ever decides to come back he will find a warm welcome waiting.
I told him that’s always on offer.
” Livio Suppo Repsol Honda’s new Team Principal, was also asked about the rumor said: “It would be very nice, but at the moment not to my knowledge.
Obviously if Casey wanted to, there would be no problem.
” Whether Stoner will return remains just speculation, but can anyone not imagine the Australian rider/driver returning to Phillip Island where he won for six consecutive years and blitzing the field just like Troy Bayliss did during the Valencia GP in 2006?