On the occasion of the first birthday of the Mirafiori Motor Village (Torino, Italy), Casey Stoner celebrated a new partnership with Alfa Romeo, receiving an Alfa Brera 3.2 with the sophisticated automatic gearbox with the Q-Tronic system.

The current MotoGP World Championship Leader, after meeting a crowd of fans and happily signing hundreds of autographs, left the MMV driving his new Alfa Romeo back to Monte Carlo where tomorrow he will attend the F1 Monaco Gran Prix as VIP guest of the F1 paddock. The bright red Alfa Romeo was handed over to the talented sportsman by the CEO of Alfa Romeo Automobiles, Antonio Baravalle, as part of the Alfa Romeo sponsorship of the Ducati team and Casey admitted that owning an Alfa Romeo is a dream he has had almost as long as wanting to ride for Ducati.

"I'm very happy with this new partnership with Alfa Romeo that, as Ducati, is a prestigious Italian brand I have been fascinated with since I was a child", said the young Australian rider. "I'm looking forward to drive my new Brera and I'm now even more happy that the next race will be the Italian GP at Mugello, because it's one of my favourite circuit and I'll be able to get there with my new Brera directly from my house in Montecarlo!"

Meanwhile as the Ducati Corse outfit prepares for next weeks Grand Prix at Mugello, it spent an extra day at Le Mans following last Sunday's rain-lashed French GP.
 

However during the additional day of testing uncertain weather conditions kept everyone guessing until 4.30pm when finally the sun came out at Le Mans. The morning was cloudy and the track was still damp from overnight rain and though the circuit did start to dry another sprinkling of rain threatened to ruin the Ducati Marlboro Team's test schedule.

From 4pm track conditions were good enough for Casey Stoner, the current MotoGP championship points leader, and his team mate Loris Capirossi to complete the day's test program that included evaluation of a new generation of Bridgestone front and rear tyres. The Ducati Marlboro Team will be next back on the track at its home GP - the Alice Italian Grand Prix at Mugello - from June 1 to June 3.

"This morning it looked like the weather was going to make fun of us again and I really think we had already had enough rain yesterday," said Casey Stoner after the extra day's test. "Finally the track dried out and we were able to complete the tests we had planned. We focused on testing tyres, found several that we like and gave the Bridgestone technicians our feedback so that we can make the best possible preparations for Mugello, which is one of my favourite racetracks," he added.