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Casey Stoner confident heading to new factory

Roar Guru
9th December, 2010
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Casey Stoner denies he will be overlooked by his new Honda team as the MotoGP outfit tries to cater for four factory riders next year.

The Australian says Honda has the manpower and resources to ensure all riders will be treated fairly throughout the 2011 championship.

Stoner has switched from Ducati, his place taken by Italian star Valentino Rossi.

The 2007 world champion joins Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso in the factory HRC squad.

The manufacturer is also now committed to giving support to San Carlo Gresini Honda rider Marco Simoncelli and says it will treat all four riders equally.

Stoner says he expects to be treated no better or worse than his teammates.

“As far as I can see we all have the same amount of mechanics and nobody is getting less treatment than anyone else, so there is nothing wrong with this,” Stoner told motorcyclenews.com.

“In the past Honda did this and it was fantastic, so I think it can be a great thing.

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“Everyone always wants to think they are more important or special than others but if everybody is getting the same treatment, I don’t see any problem and we all have our own team, mechanics and engineers to worry about.”

Stoner sent out an early warning that he intends to be an immediate threat to his rivals when he ran an impressive test on the Honda last month although Pedrosa has cautioned him about the bike.

The Australian praised the smooth engine performance of the RC212V after he finished a close second to Yamaha star Jorge Lorenzo in the first test ahead of the 2011 MotoGP world championship.

But Pedrosa, who was fifth in the test, still believes the machine can be made easier to ride.

“I don’t know how the Ducati is, but compared to the Yamaha we are still too aggressive both on acceleration and deceleration,” Pedrosa said.

“Our bike is moving a lot because of the engine and we still have to work on that.

“Casey’s experience with the Honda is very low. He hasn’t raced it yet so compared to the Ducati he felt the difference.

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“I know how difficult it is to manage the power delivery for the whole race where he was only doing short runs.

“I tried a new engine in Valencia but it is still too aggressive in the way it delivers the power,” the Spaniard said.

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