MINICHAMPS 122 070027 DUCATI DESMO16 GP7, red, ALICE, racing no.27, CASEY STONER, DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM.

MotoGP 2007 World Champion, 1:12th scale.

For the 2007 season rumours spread that Casey Stoner would be the new team-mate of Valentino Rossi, but in October 2006 he signed with Ducati. The Italian team desperately needed a new driver as replacement for Sete Gibernau, who had ended his career after not being successful to negotiate a new contract. Later on the officials admitted that Stoners’ acquisition was very risky, because at the beginning of the season no one was able to predict his abilities. Stoner emphasized, that the chance of riding on a factory bike was crucial for his decision. The Australians’ start into the season was furious. He achieved a strong victory in first race, the Grand Pirx of Qatar, mainly due to the superior top speed of the Ducati. After achieving further victories in Turkey and China, the competition predicted, that the Ducati was only able to win on tracks with long straights.
Upon winning the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, a technically very demanding race track, and beating the seven time World Champion Valentino Rossi, he was taken serious as a potential title aspirant. After achieveing victories, who were partly dominated by Stoner, in Great Britain, the United States, Czech Republic and San Marino, Casey Stoner secured the World Championship title already in the fourth last race at the Japanese Grand Prix of Motegi. At Season end he had collected 10 victories and 14 top three finishes. Stoner bestowed, for the first time ever in the history of the FIM street motorcycle World Championship, a World Championship title to the small bolognian factory Ducati and he is the first World Champion in the top class of motorcycle sports on a non Japanese product since Phil Read in 1974.

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