Casey Stoner explains Karel Abraham bust-up

Casey Stoner will try and stage clear the air talks with MotoGP rookie Karel Abraham in Germany later this month after the pair were involved in a heated exchange in pitlane during yesterday’s Mugello test.

Abraham went to confront Stoner in the Repsol Honda garage after the pair had clashed on track in the morning session.

The incident started at the final corner, with Stoner accusing Ducati rider Abraham of blocking his line. The Australian then passed but slowed down exiting the first corner to allow Abraham back through because he didn’t want the Czech Republic rider following him to improve his lap times.

That’s when the altercation started and there was contact between the two, with minor damage to both bikes visible when the warring pair returned to the pits.

Abraham later accused Stoner of deliberately running into him but the Repsol Honda rider said: “I’m a little disappointed to be honest because I’ve been impressed with what he’s been doing this year.

“I didn’t expect it to be honest and he’s been riding well. But already a few times last weekend he’s been looking behind and when he sees you coming he starts to accelerate to get on the racing line and I have nowhere to go.

“I have to take a completely different line and in testing you need to give everybody space because we’re not here to try and get the fastest lap, we’re trying to test. I wanted to go into the last corner and he was directly on the line where I wanted to go and I wasn’t so happy.

“So when I closed the gas on the exit of the first corner he started to become angry with me and I didn’t like this because he was the one trying to get some advantage from me and take away from my advantage.

“I’m a bit disappointed but I’ll probably go and speak to him at Sachsenring and see if we can resolve it and improve the situation.”