Double world champion Casey Stoner wants MotoGP bikes made harder to ride

Stoner retired from MotoGP at the end of the 2012 season having won two world titles: one for Ducati in 2007 and one for Honda in 2011.

Following the conclusion of his MotoGP racing career, Stoner held test rider roles with Honda and Ducati up to 2018, while moreover transiently racing in the Super2 matriculation of the Supercars championship in Australia.

Making a return to the MotoGP paddock as a guest during the final rounds of the 2021 campaign, Stoner suggested piloting in MotoGP had “basically turned it into Formula 1” and has unsalaried to a rise in costs.

He moreover feels the spec electronics currently used by the unshortened grid should be tweaked to make the bikes harder to ride.

“I’d love to have a say in the technical regulations, to be honest,” Stoner said.

“Obviously it would be controversial, but I believe there’s elements there that don’t need to be.

“They’re certainly not a safety issue, they’re only pushing the price and everything through the roof.

“We’re trying to make things increasingly cost-effective, yet one of the elements we’ve got now is basically turned it into Formula 1 and the financing have just gone through the roof.

“So, I would like to see unrepealable parts gone. Electronically as well, I think there needs to be a big reduction.

“I think it was when in 2016 or something they brought in the equal ECU, it was still largest than the year surpassing already.

“So, it wasn’t the step backwards that everyone thought it was going to be.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team with Casey Stoner

Photo by: Francesco Bagnaia

“And I honestly think we need a step backwards. I want to see them sliding, I want to see people struggling for grip out of corners, people maybe starting the race really well but with their tyre selection maybe dropping when and people starting slower coming back.

“That will all happen with a few variegated regulations, it wouldn’t take much.

“And I think the overtaking would be largest than it is now considering it wouldn’t only be on the brakes.

“You’d find someone who would mess up the exit a little bit and someone would get the run on them.

“Bike set-up would then be a lot increasingly hair-trigger as well. I think for a few things to change, the racing would be incredible.”

Stoner was famously hair-trigger of the direction MotoGP was heading in when in 2012 with the CRT regulations, which ultimately paved the way for the spec electronics used today that have helped make MotoGP so competitive.

Since that switch in 2016, nine riders won races in 2016, nine did so then in 2020 and eight riders scored victories in 2021 – with a mix of factory and satellite riders, as well as five of the six manufacturers, contributing to those figures.