Former MotoGP™ World Champion Casey Stoner was back in action on Thursday in order to test Honda’s Production Racer. However, there was another postponement as more poor weather conditions delayed proceedings at Twin Ring Motegi.

Unable to ride at all on Wednesday because of the adverse conditions, Stoner took to the track on the RC213V machine under cloudy skies on Thursday. He then trialled the Production Racer which is being developed based on the RC213V. This was the Australian’s first test on the model, although it did not prevent him from lapping the circuit with ‘high average speeds’.


“Unfortunately the weather played a big role in this test, which was a little frustrating not to be able to share the workload over the two days,” explained the title winner of 2007 and 2011. “We tried to do everything today but it was a little difficult and we also had the threat of rain again. We started with the current RCV, trying to find a base setting and then work from there. We had two variations of chassis to try and some big modifications and improvements, in my opinion.

“We also tried the production bike, which was more impressive than I predicted. It had a similar feeling to the RCV but with a little less power and a different feeling in engine braking. With some small modifications I believe this bike will be competitive and I look forward to the next test with it. In general, it was a good but busy day!”

At 3:45pm local time, Stoner pulled into the pits for good as more poor weather prevented him from remaining on-track.

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