Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner has said he will not go to the Motegi MotoGP round even though Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta has said it is safe and intends to take his family to the event.
In a scene not disimilar from Jaws where the mayor persuades a sunbather to take his children into a sea being patrolled by a 25-foot Carcharodon carcharias, Ezpeleta will take his son to the event but this doesn't wash with Stoner, who says he is not running a business where the Spaniard is.
"This is one person's point of view compared to a lot of other people's. We are speaking about a businessman here. He is there to run a business and he is going to show up, take risks and all the rest of it. To lose a race for him is a huge thing, especially as it's the Japanese Grand Prix," said Stoner.
"It's not like we have the luxury of doing this. We will lose championship points if we choose not to go and the race is still on. Honestly, Jorge is the same as me and we don't want to go and no-one will change our views on this at this moment. For me it is better to wait it out for this year."
It is believed there is a petition against holding the race which has been signed by almost every MotoGP rider, plus a healthy number from Moto2 and 125GP as well. It may well not be a problem for Ducati as there is some sort of Italian employment law which states it can't make it's employees go into a danger zone.
