By Matthew Birt
Casey Stoner reckons it is impossible to make a direct comparison between the Ducati he rode last season and the factory Honda RC212V he will campaign in 2011 because the differences are so extreme.
Stoner switched to Repsol Honda on a two-year deal for next season having opted to end his four-year tenure at Ducati where he became the only rider to enjoy major success on the Desmosedici machine.
The Australian rider has won more races than any other rider so far in the 800cc era with 23 and his performances completely overshadowed Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden.
Stoner has already been installed as many people’s pre-season favourite for 2011 now he’s moved to the vastly-improved Honda RC212V, which dominated a three-day test session at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia earlier this month.
But the 24-year-old says it is difficult to compare the Ducati against the Honda when asked his thoughts on recent comments made by Valentino Rossi.
After Rossi’s much-hyped Ducati debut in Valencia back in early November, he said the GP11 felt like a pure prototype developed solely for racing in MotoGP.
But the Italian reckons the Japanese factories have a different approach and their bikes are essentially production bikes made into racers.
When asked about his move the opposite way from the Ducati to a Japanese bike, Stoner said: “I had a stronger feeling when I left Honda in 2006 to move to Ducati.
"Then it was ‘what have I done?’ I really didn’t know the decision I made when I first rode the Ducati was the right one. I couldn’t believe the feeling of the bike. You feel the vibration and the gear change is aggressive but the bike works.
"It was a very strange feeling but after four years you become very comfortable with the bike and it becomes normal.
"So when I got back on the Honda everything felt so smooth to me and it felt completely different. It is difficult to even compare the two because the difference is so extreme.”
Source: http://www.motorcyclenews.com