Wherever racing paddocks assemble, rumors accumulate. The latest piece of gossip to hit the racing grapevine concerns Casey Stoner, and is emerging from the paddock he has just entered – the Australian V8 Supercars series – and involves the paddock he has just left, MotoGP. According to the V8 gossip*, Casey Stoner is to wildcard in at least two MotoGP races in the 2013 season, aboard a Honda RC213V.
The paddock gossip was picked up by the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who contacted Repsol Honda team principal Livio Suppo for confirmation. Suppo denied any knowledge of such an agreement, though he did state that Stoner would be more than welcome to race as a wildcard for Honda, should he wish to do so.
The rumors do not exist only in the V8 Supercar paddock. The rumors are also doing the rounds among those with connections to Honda in the MotoGP paddock as well. Anonymous sources suggest that Stoner has been signed to do all three flyaway races – Sepang, Phillip Island, and Motegi – as well as private testing for HRC.
The logistics of the Dunlop V8 Supercar series – the development class which Stoner must spend a year in before moving up to V8 Supercars proper – are such that it would be impossible for Stoner to compete in the Sepang race.
The Dunlop V8 series is scheduled to race at Bathurst on Saturday, 12th October, the day before the MotoGP race at Sepang. Stoner would be unable to qualify, and would therefore be unable to race. However, the Phillip Island and Motegi rounds both fall on weekends with no Dunlop V8 races scheduled, clearing the way for the Australian to race. Having Stoner race at both rounds would make sense: Stoner loves Phillip Island, and would like to race there, while HRC would like to have a wildcard at the track which Honda owns.
Just how true these rumors are remains to be seen. As several internet wits have already remarked, we will only know that he intends to race as a wildcard once he publicly denies it. Given recent history – Stoner publicly denied both his retirement and his signing for the Dunlop V8 series, just days before both were announced – that would be taken as the final confirmation.
* Editor’s Note: the Twitter account (@Berncar1) which first broke the rumor of a Stoner wildcard has since been deleted.
Photo: © 2012 Scott Jones / Scott Jones Photography – All Rights Reserved
This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.
interesting…….
but how would he forfill his contract for the V8 series if he were to be injured on the bike or vise versa?
It would be fun to see at those rounds indeed. But he is far from a man of conviction. I seem to remember not long ago when he protested racing in Motegi ony to capitulate the the HRC higher brass. Something about radiation levels. I find it surprising that Motegi is one of the rounds he is willing to race at….
Wonder if he will bring the wife and kids…?
stoner, please don’t do so. it will make rossi’s reputations much more worse, u’ve been proven it all. let myth stays what it is. the media like A&R , the yellow panties brigade will go crazy when u unintentionally humiliating rossi once again!
Talent or no talent, Stoner can’t just show up at the end of the season to qualify and race MotoGP. The timing would make it effectively a year since he was last on the Honda prototype. Remember the devastating arm-pump that he suffered for a few races at the start of last season, after only being off the bike for a few months?
Nope, I don’t buy it – especially given his schedule. This is all a bit of the BS rumor mill, if you ask me – even him being contracted as a test rider. Is he serious about learning and racing V8 Supercar or not? Knowing Stoner, he’s intently focused on V8 Supercar, continuing to test and develop the RC213V would be a major distraction that would include long and sustained probes from the media about all events past and fantasy. I don’t see him being into that at all.
I think by the time the Phillip Island and Motegi rounds come about, there would be the risk that Stoners presence (let’s assume he is still capable of a podium at the least) could threaten the other 2 HRC riders if they were chasing Lorenzo for example. Of course, on the flipside, a Lorenzo being unable to pass a second or third placed ‘tailgunner’ Stoner may be a great tactic in helping Pedrosa (Or Marquez).
This is just posturing. I hope I’m completely wrong and the season is incredibly close with a mix of riders getting wins
I hope to see him back. Watching him slide his Honda at Philips Island was almost … Um, What’s another word for wizardry?
Wouldn’t it be awesome if he was actually guest riding the Duke… and stuck it on the podium… I think the world would actually spin in the opposite direction! :-)
hmmm I dont think so…..but then again it’s stoner………regardless I think it in awfully poor taste if it’s true, I repsect him as a rider too bad he didnt just keep his ass on the honda and add a few more championships to his record ,he isnt thinking about his overall legacy… acting like someone owes him more than he got….he has had this attitude ever since his mystery illness that put him out for almost half a season…I think they settled on lactose intollerance or some (intollerance issues’s..lol) and maybe it’s true but the best way to “hit back” is on the bike not the media which he did …..but then lambasted the whole Moto GP paddock and then quite…this so far is his leagcy ?…not really what you expect from a two time world champion with years left in the tank.
I think the days where a certain attitude was “expected from a Champion” have long since past. Biaggi was the GP villain for awhile till Honda gave him the boot and then he went over to WSBK with essentially the same attitude but less public scrutiny and he went out like a champ. Stoner could have done the same but realized it wasn’t worth it for him. To each his own; as long as he’s ok with his “legacy” or whatever the hell that means anymore.
Aren’t we, as fans, past the point of putting these guys on a figurative pedestal?