Casey Stoner’s partnership with Ducati comes to an end

Double time World Champion Casey Stoner and Ducati have ended their collaboration, as his three year contract with Ducati came to an end. He was the development rider and brand ambassador for Ducati from 2016. He retired from MotoGP in 2012 and his last season was with Honda, the team he made his MotoGP debut in 2006. To his credit, Stoner has 38 wins, 69 podium finishes and 39 pole positions in his MotoGP career. Ducati has acknowledged Casey’s contributions for the constant improvement of the Desmosedici GP bike from 2016-2018.

On the end of the partnership with Ducati, Casey Stoner said, “I want to thank Ducati for the great memories and especially the support and enthusiasm of the Ducati fans for our shared passion for racing and motorcycling, I’ll always remember this. Over the past three years I have really enjoyed doing my job with the test team, the engineers and technicians, as we worked towards improving the Desmosedici GP package and I sincerely want to wish the team all the very best for their future endeavours.”

Also known as Crashy Stoner or Scary Stoner, he joined Ducati factory racing team in 2007 where he secured his first championship, after making his MotoGP debut with Satellite Honda LCR team in 2006. He won 10 races in the 2007 season starting with the opening round in Qatar, which saw him lift the championship trophy at the end of 2007 season, with 367 points. He grabbed six wins in 2008 and was second overall in the championship. His race wins were reduced to four and three in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. 2010 was his last year with Ducati as the partnership concluded and he moved to Honda for the 2011 season. It was also the year he secured his second World Championship, this time with Honda.  In 2012, the Australian announced his retirement from MotoGP, which shocked fraternity. After his retirement, he did some testing for Honda but returned to Ducati in 2016 as factory rider and brand ambassador. Before the start of 2016 season, Casey made a public appearance at the Sepang test and posted competitive lap times. You can’t take the speed out of a rider, they say.

Casey Stoner was also instrumental in developing the Ducati Panigale V4 among other Ducati models. He also took part in the World Ducati Week in 2016 and 2018 editions, where he met Ducatisti from all over the world.

Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A, said, “Casey is and will always remain in the hearts of Ducatisti and it is also on their behalf that we wish to thank him for the important collaboration he has offered us over the last three years. His technical indications and suggestions, together with the work and the feedback of the factory riders and Michele Pirro, have helped to make the Desmosedici GP one of the most competitive bikes on the grid, and his advice for the development of our production bikes has been just as precious and useful. Ducati and its many fans wish to offer their sincere thanks and their best wishes to Casey and his family for a serene and happy future.”

Casey Stoner has not yet made any announcement regarding his future plans. We wish him best of luck for his future endeavours.