Stoner third in MotoGP testing

Red Bull Ring in Austria is tailor-made for the awesomely fast and stable Ducatis, but even with those advantages Aussie Casey Stoner has again reminded everyone why he is such a massive loss to MotoGP when he completed a two-day test at the circuit third overall.

The Aussie two-time world champion, who retired at the end of 2012, set a best of 1:23.865 at the test, with factory Ducati riders Andrea Dovizioso (1:23.240) and Andrea Iannone (1:25.680) the only other riders ahead of him. The first MotoGP round will be held at Red Bull Ring from August 12-14.

The only blight for Stoner was a crash at turn six only five minutes from the end.

“We had quite a positive day but really didn’t get a lot of laps in because the test team had to put Michele Pirro on the bike to do some testing this afternoon," said Stoner. "We did lots of short runs to change the bike all the time, did a couple of comparisons in the chassis, and we adjusted and moved everything around a bit to get the bike more stable under brakes on a good track.

"I’m happy and satisfied but also a bit disappointed towards the end because it was the first time I had to push in four years with a soft tyre and it didn’t go well as I crashed at turn six.

"I’m pretty happy with the hard tyre, and the bike felt good, even though in both days we were still using the previous chassis, but I think we can lap even better with the new version.”

There has been some talk that Stoner may compete as a wildcard at Red Bull Ring, but neither he or Ducati have declared their intentions.

Meanwhile, Hector Barbera made it four Ducatis at the pointy end, followed by Yamaha teammates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo and Suzuki pair Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro.

Townsville's Jack Miller (Honda) was 11th, while KTM – which will join MotoGP in 2017 – was massively impressive with test rider Mika Kallio less than two seconds slower than Dovizioso – with an enourmous amount of improvement still to come.

Kallio will compete at the season-ending Valencia GP on the KTM, just like Suzuki did in 2014 before it returned to the championship in 2015.

Red Bull Ring test times
1. A. Iannone, Ducati team, 1'23.240
2. A. Dovizioso, Ducati team, 1'23.680
3. C. Stoner, Pramac Ducati team, 1'23.865          
4. H. Barbera, Avintia Racing, 1'24.091
5. V. Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1'24.169
6.  J. Lorenzo, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1'24.194
7. M. Viñales, Team Suzuki Ecstar, 1'24.208
8. A. Espargarò, Team Suzuki Ecstar, 1'24.335     
9. S. Redding, Octo Pramac Yakhnich, 1'24.375   
10. C. Crutchlow, LCR Honda, 1'24.455     
11. E. Laverty, Aspar Team MotoGP, 1'24.497
12. J. Miller, Estrella Galicia 0,0 MARC VDS, 1'24.555
13. T. Rabat, Estrella Galicia 0,0 MARC VDS, 1'24.760
14. Y. Hernandez, Aspar Team MotoGP, 1'24.812
15. D. Petrucci, Octo Pramac Yakhnich, 1'25.090
16. M. Pirro, Avintia Racing, 1'25.139
17. M. Kallio, KTM Team, 1'25.191
18. T. Luthi, KTM Team, 1'25.705