29/06/2011
Stoner wasn’t surprised by Ducati’s action
By David Miller
Image by Repsol Media
Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner isn’t surprised his old Ducati team have accelerated their machine development with the GP11.1 as the Australian former champion recognises they needed to make something happen.
Stoner, who won the MotoGP title in 2007, says he knew when the team took on Valentino Rossi they would have to start putting in more money and upping the speed of the development process.
“They needed it. If they hadn’t done this, then it looked like they were doing nothing and they were in much bigger trouble. Without any real results this year, they cannot just stay there on the same machine and getting the same results is not enough,” said Stoner.
“I said at the beginning of the season that if they took Valentino on, they would for sure put more money into the programme and show up with more developments. Obviously, they had the budget to bring something new and if you have this possibility, then you have to do it.
“They changed some things from last year. For me in 2007-09 we changed more or less nothing and in 2009-10 we changed the chassis and that’s about it apart from the big bang engine, it was small steps every year and that’s all they had the time for.
“Last year we were struggling with confidence but one we got the confidence back we were there but not until the end of the season. We made big step with the chassis I believe and if you can find the correct balance then something special can happen.”
Les Archer Nicolas Aubin Rene Baeten David Bailey John Banks
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