HRC: Stoner not to blame
The Aussie champ's bruising return to competition at the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hour wasn't his fault, says the Honda Racing CorporationHonda Racing Corporation (HRC) has issued a public apology to Casey Stoner after admitting a dodgy throttle cable caused the spectacular crash by the two-time MotoGP champion in last Sunday's Suzuka 8 Hour world endurance race in Japan.
Stoner, who was leading at the time, appeared to lose the front end around a fast right-hander before running off the track, with both bike and rider tumbling through the infield – Stoner breaking his right shoulder and left ankle, while the very second-hand CBR1000RR terminated in the middle of the track, necessitating safety car intervention.
Afterwards, Stoner said the throttle had struck, and now a detailed analysis by HRC has confirmed the malfunction.
The throttle, a bespoke design for HRC's world endurance bikes, is different from the standard specification used on the CBR1000RR road bike.
According to HRC, the problem hasn't occurred before, and it will now cease using this throttle specification and instead design a new one.
Stoner was only a few laps into his first stint after taking over from teammate Takumi Takahashi, with his Musashi RT HARC-PRO team chasing its third consecutive win in Japan's biggest and most prestigious motorcycle race.
The race was eventually won by the Yamaha factory team of Pol Espargarò, Bradley Smith and Katsuyuki Nakasuga. For a race recap, click HERE.
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