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MotoGP, Ducati with a rider 'double': Stoner alongside Lorenzo

The idea of having the Australian in the Ducati garage as Jorge's coach during the 2017 season takes shape again

Ducati with a rider 'double': Stoner alongside Lorenzo

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Jorge Lorenzo is on holiday, but his agenda is packed with commitments: on 27 November he will be in Abu Dhabi to watch the last race in the F1 world championship that will decide whether Rosperg or Hamilton will take the title, and he will be doing it from the Mercedes garage. Then, on 30 November he will open his motorsports museum in Andorra that includes memorabilia from Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Mick Doohan, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts and many others.

The event is also supported by Monster, the Majorcan’s personal sponsor who will also follow him into his adventure with Ducati. As we know, the former world champion cannot yet talk about his new team, but every time he appears in public, some new revelation can be expected.

He has told those very closest to him that he is quite motivated, partly because he sees that the team is extremely motivated about his arrival.

“Sure, there is still work to be done to improve the bike, but I am very pleased.”

The news is that, as ‘coach’, Lorenzo would like to have none other than Casey Stoner, who was close to him in Valencia on the day he made his début. It was an idea that had already come up in the summer, but that was picked back up in recent days. By now, the presence of a 'Rider performance analyst' - for example, this is Luca Cadalora’s qualification with Yamaha - is a must with the top riders. After all, Jorge had former 250 rider, Wilco Zeelemberg by his side.

“One of the problems is that Casey lives in Australia, so to follow the entire world championship, he would need to return to Europe. We spoke and I think he is just about convinced, but I know that he is also speaking with Ducati. We’ll see if they manage to come to an agreement.”

This would be something entirely new. In fact, for the first time, a rider would be able to speak with an equal peer in a subsequent test to personally verify what the rider has explained – an incredible plus.

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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