No McLaren drive for either Schumacher, but Michael has whipped up some speed on Casey's championship bike before an official Ferrari test day next week.
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Michael Schumacher has laughed off wild speculation that he might replace Fernando Alonso at McLaren next year.
But the retired seven time world champion will drive Ferrari's 2007 Formula One car at a two-day post-season test at Circuit de Catalunya next week.
And the test is not for fun. Schumacher’s early experience with racecars without traction control and other electronic aids could be helpful in setting up cars for the 2008 regulations.
Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni said the German would contribute to the team's development programme ahead of the traction control ban in 2008.
On Monday this week, Schumacher stunned the bike fraternity at the Valencia circuit when he rode Casey Stoner's championship-winning Ducati MotoGP bike to
within five seconds of the pace.
The former F1 champion, wearing a plain white lid and orange leathers, showed he had improved greatly since his Ducati test in 2005 when he was 15secs adrift of the MotoGP lap times. This time, he rubbed his knee pad on the deck as he leant into the turns, shadowed by ex rider Randy Mamola on the two-seater Duke.
Dismissing a far-fetched suggestion that he might get serious about MotoGP, Schumacher also waved away any comparison between MotoGP and Formula One.
"It is like being on earth and going to the moon," said Schumacher.
Wayne Gardner also had a gallop on a current Honda MotoGP machine.
