Yamaha boss ‘scared’ by Casey Stoner threat

Yamaha’s MotoGP boss Masao Furusawa has admitted he is ‘scared’ by the threat Aussie Casey Stoner poses to Valentino Rossi’s hopes of winning a seventh premier class title in 2009.

Despite a slow and painful recovery from a pre-Christmas left wrist operation, Stoner has been in startling form during ’09 pre-season testing.

He defeated Rossi in the first test in Sepang in early February and he was rampant using Ducati’s new carbon fibre swingarm for the first time in Qatar earlier this month, finishing nearly a second ahead of his closest rival.

And it is that breathtaking form that has captured Furusawa’s attention, with the Japanese boss hoping to help Rossi add to the nine wins he claimed last season to dominate Stoner.

Furusawa said: “Honda is competitive and Ducati is competitive but only with Casey.
I think Casey will be a bigger rival than Dani (Pedrosa). I’m a little bit scared about Casey’s performance with the Ducati. I don’t know the reasons why that combination is so strong, but it is very strong. I would like to move Casey to Honda.”

Had Furusawa considered launching a future raid for Stoner, who has won 16 of his 36 races for Ducati since the start of 2007?

“If I had Valentino, Casey, and Jorge (Lorenzo), it is too much. We would be pretty happy but I think it would be pretty boring for the fans if they were all together,  “he joked.

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