Stoner and Hayden make Madrid pit stop

Traveling to southern Spain’s beautiful Andalusia region for the Official MotoGP Test this weekend, team-mates Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden - the 2007 and 2006 World Champions respectively – stopped in at a Shell filling station as part of an event to mark the tenth anniversary of Shell’s technical partnership with Ducati.

The photo call was made all the more special for two Ducati fans who were able to meet the two MotoGP stars as they arrived to refuel their bikes. Hayden turned pump attendant for the day when he filled up the bike of one of the Ducati fans with Shell V-Power road fuel - the road-going equivalent of the Shell V-Power race fuel which powers the Ducati bikes in MotoGP.

The formulation of Shell V-Power race fuel is constantly being developed to power the Desmosedici GP9 to victory. The knowledge gained from developing fuels for racing these high revving, ultra-powerful engines contributes to the development of Shell V-Power for the road, which is a vital part of Shell’s research and development process.

Hayden joked, “It’s part of my new contract… I have to work 20 days for Shell and this is my first day!” before saying, “Seriously, it’s great to meet fans on a day like this. I hope everything goes well in Jerez as I feel good at Ducati and the GP9 feels better every time I ride it.”

Casey Stoner, who enjoyed the event alongside his new team mate, was very optimistic ahead of the forthcoming test. “I’m really looking forward to the test in Jerez and I believe we can be a lot more consistent for the next season with the Ducati and the Shell package we have at the moment. Everything technically is working very well, very consistently.”