Stoner tests 2015 Honda MotoGP bike

Casey Stoner tried both Honda's 2015 MotoGP bike and the 2016-spec Michelin tires as he returned to testing duty at Motegi this week.

The 2007 and '11 MotoGP world champion has made sporadic test appearances for Honda since his shock retirement from competition at the end of 2012. The Motegi run on Wednesday and Thursday was Stoner's first time on the bike in a year.

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa first tested Honda's 2015 bike in August, though they decided against requesting its early introduction before the end of this season. Stoner's main duty at Motegi was continuing work on the new bike.

"It took some time to get used to riding the bike again after a year off it," Stoner admitted. "But everything felt good, I got back into the swing of things pretty quickly and we just got on with the testing program HRC had planned.

"Day one went pretty well, testing both Marc and Dani's set-ups on the 2015 prototype machines and analyzing these side by side we found some interesting differences and useful data. We also did some engine development and some other new items Honda brought for this test."

Factory MotoGP teams are beginning to test Michelin tires ahead of the French firm replacing Bridgestone as control supplier in 2016, but have agreed not to use their race riders for this process. Honda is therefore able to call on Stoner for Michelin work, and he got his first taste of the rubber on Thursday.

Yamaha is using its longtime factory rider Colin Edwards for Michelin testing.