Stoner makes Ducati return

Casey Stoner has made his official return to the Ducati MotoGP team as he took to the track this morning at Sepang for his first test on the new GP16 machine. The Australian will complete two days of testing today and tomorrow, ahead of the first offical pre-season test, which starts on Monday.

The move marks the double world champion’s first outing for the Italian manufacturer since 2010, making the switch to the Repsol Honda squad for his final two years in the championship and his second world title.

However, rumours persist that he will return to MotoGP in 2016. Not having raced since his 2013 retirement, with the exception of an abortative attempt at the Suzuka 8 Hour last season, he nonetheless told MCN earlier this year that there’s no plans set in stone yet.

“Ducati want me to do wildcards and I’ve got options whenever I want, but at this point we have made no decision. I’ll see how the tests go and hopefully I can get some test time on a grippy track that’s race-ready.

“My main focus is testing and to work on the development programme to get Ducati back to winning races.”