CASEY STONER will not have the operation needed on his wrist until the winter, opting to see out the season in order to test the 2009 factory Ducati MotoGP bike immediately after the final round of the year in Valencia. He last rode next year's bike during a private test at Catalunya.
He said: "The Valencia test is the only reason that we are continuing with the season. We need to test that bike again, because there is going to be a three month period in which I can´t test, and the technicians will need as much information as they can get. If I´m going to ride after the race at Valencia then I may as well take part in these last two races. If it gets impossible to ride then we´ll stop and get the operation, but right now it looks like we can finish the season."
