The first major piece of the 2011 MotoGP jigsaw has been set, with Honda announcing that Australian Casey Stoner will defect from Ducati to join them.
The 2007 world champion, who rode in the Honda LCR team in his debut MotoGP season in 2006, will rejoin Honda after four seasons with Ducati.
Honda's complete factory team line-up for 2011 will be officially presented later in the season, where it's expected that Dani Pedrosa and Andréa Dovizioso will remain incumbents -- but whether that's under the same umbrella as Stoner will be gristle for the rumour mill over coming months.
HRC Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto said: "We are very pleased that Casey will join Honda again next year.
"Clearly he is one of the top riders in MotoGP and he will bring valuable speed and experience to our team. In the factory Honda squad we already have two very strong and experienced riders in Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso who are performing very well and currently hold second and third positions in the 2010 world championship.
"HRC hopes also to retain these two riders for next year -- giving us what would be a truly formidable line-up."
The confirmation that Stoner's leaving Ducati has now cleared the decks for an even more sensational switch - Valentino Rossi from Yamaha to Ducati.
Standby for an announcement on that defection, as well as American Ben Spies taking Rossi's seat in the factory Yamaha squad.
Published : Friday, 9 July 2010