Casey Stoner's idea for how to bring Suzuki and Kawasaki back to MotoGP

Casey Stoner has explained how MotoGP could tempt Kawasaki and Suzuki back.

29 Dec 2023

Stoner has never been a big advocate for the current aero and downforce development that is taking MotoGP to faster speeds than ever seen before, although it has brought with it increased risk at times.

However, that’s not the prime reason Stoner wants to see changes to the technical regulations.

Kawasaki and more recently Suzuki left MotoGP due to the financial challenges involved in running a project in the pinnacle of racing.

The two-time champion with Ducati and Honda believes more consistency is needed in terms of what the rules are, how long a regulation should be implemented for and the costs involved.

“We keep thinking you can’t stop this progression,” said Stoner when speaking to TNT Sports. “But you can, especially in a prototype championship.

“We do not need these on the streets so therefore we can regulate what we do. We need a set of rules that basically goes for 10 years.

“Manufacturers come in, know what they can set aside for a budget, realistic. Bring Suzuki back in, Kawasaki, other manufacturers. They know the regulations are the same for 10 years, they won’t be behind the eight-ball constantly, going ‘now we don’t have a budget for this’.

“There is a lot going on that everybody thinks is moving forwards. But they need to slow down. There hasn’t been a single race this year with every rider in their seat.

“That’s telling you that there’s too much going on, too much happening. I feel like we’re constantly trying to emulate Formula 1, except we have far more electronics.”

As part of trying to emulate F1, sprint races have become the big addition to the sport this season and Stoner said it should do without.

Stoner added: “We don’t need to emulate Formula 1. We create the racing because our bikes are a foot-and-a-half wide and you can fit eight of them into one corner.

“You can’t do that in F1. We shouldn’t be trying to emulate them with sprint races.

“Leave it for what it is. You’d have the same riders in their seats each week.”