MotoGP: Casey Stoner doubts Ducati test plan

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner has doubted whether Ducati engineers will learn anything significant from veteran duo Troy Bayliss and Max Biaggi testing his factory GP8 machine.

Ducati want current World Superbike duo Bayliss and Biaggi to test the GP8 in Mugello next month, primarily to get a fresh perspective on the performance of the latest spec V4.

Aussie Stoner is the only rider capable of running at the front on the GP8, and Ducati hope the contrasting styles of Bayliss and Biaggi will help them understand why the likes of Loris Capirossi, Alex Barros, and now Marco Melandri have found it so difficult to adapt.

The test will also be used to try and help struggling Italian Marco Melandri, who has had a shocking time with Ducati so far and he’s yet to score a top ten finish in the season’s opening three races.

But 22-year-old Stoner told MCN: “It will be interesting but we’ve still got to get this bike set up for us. In my opinion they (Bayliss and Biaggi) are not going to be able to jump on it and go fast.

“Troy is a very fast rider but it’s not a race meeting and they won’t push anywhere to the pace that we are riding at. We are not far off the pace now and it will be hard for them to get any real information.

“We are ourselves are struggling enough and we have got experience of this package. And I’m sure they want to concentrate on their own problems in World Superbikes.”