Honda Racing will not rush a decision on who will replace Casey Stoner from 2013, and will not rule out any options - like that of Valentino Rossi returning – according to vice president Shuhei Nakamoto.

Stoner's announcement at Le Mans that he will retire at the end of the year has left Honda with the massive quandary of finding a suitable replacement.

Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati's Rossi, last year's Moto2 runner-up Marc Marquez and a multitude of other riders have been connected with the factory ride.

Nakamoto says HRC will not rule out any options, but insists it does not want to pair two Spanish riders at the team. He says the first step will be to speak to current works rider Dani Pedrosa, who is in his seventh straight year with the squad.

"I need to gather my ideas and discuss with my bosses in Japan," Nakamoto told Motosprint. "Nothing is impossible now.

"First of all I want to talk properly to Dani because he's very strong and he's been with us for many years. We can talk to Lorenzo, obviously. With Casey leaving we need to rebuild."

Asked whether Rossi could rejoin HRC, with whom he split acrimoniously at the end of 2003, Nakamoto refused to rule out the possibility, saying: "After all, Valentino started his career in the top class with Honda."

He also admitted there was pressure from sponsors Repsol to give Marquez the ride, but insisted that it would be dependent on Dorna's Carmelo Ezpeleta reversing the rookie rule – and that HRC did not want to pair two Spaniards together.

"[Marquez] is the rider Repsol wants to invest on, but to find out how we'll place him you need to wait for Carmelo Ezpeleta's decision regarding the rookie rule. But Team HRC will not have two Spanish riders together."

Nakamoto said he did not think Stoner would change his mind, but said HRC would take its time about choosing a replacement for the reigning world champion.

"Maybe after spending one year in Australia he [Stoner] may feel nostalgic. Few things in this world give you the adrenaline you get from racing. After all, he'll turn 27 in October: even if he stayed out for one or two years he could come back before he turns 30 and he'd still be strong.

"My mission in 2009 was to make HRC strong again in every aspect, and my job hasn't ended. When I decided to hire Stoner, no one had anything against it: let's see what their thoughts are now.

"It's really early to make plans, because there are many things to evaluate. It's easy to talk and make predictions, but then to put it all into practice is a lot more complex because everyone's needs must be considered: companies, sponsors, riders.

"And besides, Honda is not in such a hurry to decide: we can take our time to think calmly."

Reigning champ Casey Stoner says that Valentino Rossi’s embarrassing back-flip to leave Ducati for Yamaha should serve as a humbling experience for the seven-time world champion.

The marriage of Rossi and Ducati promised great things when it opened at the start of 2011 but has delivered virtually nothing that Rossi, his Australian crew chief, Jerry Burgess, or Ducati could be proud of. And walking out on Ducati, rather than staying and finishing the job they started, is a big disappointment.

Ducati Corse general manager and engineering guru Filippo Preziosi will almost certainly carry a large portion of blame for 22 months of under-performance.

Rossi has failed to add to his 79 wins and seven world titles since joining Ducati, and his shockingly poor record is further proof that Stoner remains the great genius—and hero—of the Bologna team. Stoner’s talent and bravado overcame an often beastly Desmosedici to win 23 races and the 2007 World Championship in his four seasons with the red team.

Now Honda’s defending world champion, Stoner is bemused by the failure of Rossi and Burgess who went to Ducati boasting they could produce a bike on which “any rider could win.”

But without the engineering and design excellence of a Yamaha or Honda to back them, the famed Rossi-Burgess combination has lost some shine.

“I think he’s eating enough humble pie at the moment,” Stoner said. “I just feel completely sorry for Ducat that he has gone there and done nothing but complain about the bike. And obviously they now have a bike that can do well because he keeps getting beaten by Nicky (Hayden) and Hector (Barbera) and that is nothing to be proud of.

“They (Rossi and Burgess) ate their words from day one. Jerry saying that it took him 80 seconds to fix that bike and that it was a simple issue and now they have had pretty much two years on the thing have not made any inroads.

“Rossi got his best result in the dry virtually in his first race on the Ducati, supposedly with shoulder injuries, and I haven’t seen any improvement over the past two years and this is disappointing.”


Stoner also questioned the message which Rossi painted on his helmet for the recent Italian GP at Mugello.

“He should (stay with Ducati) and stop writing things like ‘let’s stick together’ on his helmet,” Stoner said. “The amount of times that guy has had to eat his words is not funny but people still forgive him for it.”

On a two-year deal from 2013, when he will be 34, Rossi returns to the safe haven of Yamaha and the M1 on which he won 46 races (2004-2010).

And while the Ducati may have its faults, there is a growing body of opinion that Rossi has been unwilling to take it to the edge and push for wins or podiums.

Self-preservation is no doubt a powerful motivation for this but Stoner, speaking just before Rossi’s switch back to Yamaha was confirmed, wonders how good the M1 really is in light of Rossi’s apparent policy of only pushing when the bike is perfect.

“Valentino obviously doesn’t what to push limits and ride a bike that is not perfect, he has admitted that,” Stoner said. “And unfortunately if he’s had a bike that is that good in Yamaha and hasn’t had to push when the bike is not perfect then God knows how good that bike is.

“Obviously he doesn’t want to put the effort in with Ducati. It is disappointing for them that they’re doing all they can and he is not even trying to get the best out of it.”

Rossi has made 27 starts for just two podiums and no wins since joining Ducati.