2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner must have really enjoyed beating Felipe Massa in the ice kart race during the Ducati-Ferrari Wrooom Event in Madonna di Campiglio because he once again climbed back into a high-speed Australian-made Monaco kart, powered by a 125cc Leopard engine in the newest kart track near Murray Bridge in South Australia the other day.
“I’ve been really happy with the Monaco Kart and Leopard engine package, I’ve tested it once before and for me it is a heck of a lot of fun, it’s easy to drive and extremely reliable,” said Stoner.
“We’d fill it up with fuel and it goes and goes and goes which allows me to concentrate on my driving rather than worrying about the tuning and all the other things.
“I did a handful of laps in a kart when I was about ten years old but since then I haven’t been in a real racing kart, only some four stroke hire karts which are a long way from the real deal.
”Stoner did a half-day track test under the guidance of one of 6 times Australian and 48 State Champion Remo Luciani, and showed plenty of pace.
“Even though today was a relaxed fun day for Casey he was amazingly methodical and thorough in his feedback regarding set up changes and how the kart works,” said Luciani “There wasn’t a session that he didn’t ask for something to be altered so he could feel what affect the change made to the characteristics of the kart.
Stoner expects that now he has caught the karting bug that he won’t be a stranger to kart circuits around the world in the future.
“It is very nice to go around with Remo and set the kart up and learn everything these karts can do,” said Stoner.
“Remo has been the greatest help imaginable, he has been willing to travel hours to come and spend the day setting this kart up for me and help me out to test and really introduce me to this scene that I’ve been wanting to get involved in for a while.
“Remo’s definitely been the guy to keep interested and has taught me everything that I know at the moment (about karting).
“Karting wise I’m planning to maybe do some racing in the future to hone my skills on four wheels and see how we go.
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