MCN races Casey Stoner

Just 30 minutes after qualifying for the British MotoGP race at Donington, LCR Honda rider Casey Stoner was practising for another challenge – racing the circuit against MCN’s Dan Thornton on the new MotoGP’06 game for the Xbox 360 console.
Stoner is a keen gamer, and was impressed with GP’06, particularly as riders are all taken from the current season, meaning he could actually pick himself as a game character. The 20-year-old Australian wasn’t quite as happy, however, when the first race got underway and the MCN man took the lead from the start. Despite an early lead, however, nerves took their toll, and the MotoGP professional was able to take the win.
Deciding to change to a best-of-three format, Thornton was again able to take a good start, and this time was able to keep his cool and take the win, with both riders posting times under the record pole lap set by Dani Pedrosa for the race!
The third race saw the closest racing yet, with the pair colliding on two occasions. After three laps of battling it came down to the drag from the final corner, and Stoner was just able to make the chequered flag first.
Not only did MCN get to win at least one race against a top MotoGP star, but we also found out what professional riders made of the game. Both Stoner, and Kenny Roberts Jr, who stopped by for a quick play, were impressed with the graphics and sound of MotoGP’06. Stoner also appreciated the need the early braking as a step towards realism, without making the game so tough only a professional rider could set good times.
Both racers said they’ll be looking to start racing online, and you could be racing against them. We’ve got some consoles and copies of the game up for grabs in a competition shortly. And we’re looking to start our own MotoGP06 championship, with the chance to race against guest riders. if you’re interested, post on the Related Articles link, right.