Stoner rejected £10m MotoGP contract

CASEY Stoner retired from MotoGP, despite a £10m annual contract on the table.

Stoner confirmed yesterday that he has signed a one-year deal to race a V8 Supercar in Australia. He will be racing with the Red Bull-backed Triple Eight Holden in the Dunlop Series and said he's giving himself a year to find his feet but he hasn't ruled out a return to MotoGP.

Stoner retired from MotoGP at the close of the 2012 season and has recently claimed that fans spat at him in the paddock and tried to knock him off his scooter. Straight-talking Stoner added: "We lost a rider a couple of years ago, and within a month it was like it never happened. They want to see biff and barge and they don't realise our lives are on the line. We became puppets in that world and it had nothing to do with racing. Unfortunately they didn't like my honesty."

Honda were desperate to keep hold of Stoner, offering the twice world champ a £10m annual contract to stay with one of the best teams in the top flight of MotoGP. However Stoner, disillusioned with the sport, walked away. Honda's offer was just short of what Ducati were rumoured to be paying Valentino Rossi in 2012.

On talking about a possible return to MotoGP, Stoner said: "I had no intentions of going back to the sport. But if I see the sport changing dramatically, to the point that it is interesting, there is every chance. But the way I see it going, there is no chance."