Casey Stoner
Some people will argue that Casey Stoner is one of the best riders of all time. He did show ability to win with any bike and that makes Stoner a bad ass for sure. Seems the only thing that really held him back was his persona. He could push any bike past its limits and had a natural ability to adapt to a bike was for sure impressive. Stoner chose to retire when he could have no doubt won more championships and still shows speed as a high paid tester. Watching Casey was amazing much of the time.
Stoner started racing and winning young. As a dirt tracker in Austrailia he won 41 titles in the 50cc and 125cc classes on both 2 and 4 strokes. In 2000, at the age of 15 his supportive parents took him Europe to compete in the Spanish Aprilia 125 challenge . The next year he took part in the English and Spanish championships winning 3 races in each and finishing second in each. He made his debut in the World Championship, one in England and scoring his first points in Australia by finishing 12th.
In ’02 Stoner raced an Aprilia in the 250GP class and finished the year in 12th with a season best 5th place. He went back to the 125 paddock in 2003 ending the year in 8th with one victory at Valencia and multiple podiums. Joining KTM in ’04 Stoner finished 5th with a win in Malaysia and a handful or podiums. The following year he returned to Aprilia finishing the year second behind Dani Pedrosa with 5 wins and 5 additional podiums in the 250GPs.
2006 brought the fast lad from down under to MotoGP on a Honda RC211V. The rookie fell a lot in both practice and in the races but he still managed to finish the year a solid 8th. Then things would start to change and the biggest change was moving to Ducati which was really an unknown beast of a bike. The Ducati Marlboro team gave him the first Grand Prix of the season in Qatar on the newly reduced 800cc GP limited motor. He won again in Turkey , China , Catalonia and England. We got to see him win the USGP at Laguna in July, which had a lot of juice going on BARF. He went on to win again at Brno, Misano clinching the world championship with 3 races left at 21 years old. The same age as Marc Marquez and Freddie Spencer ( if you don’t count the days). He went on to win in at his home GP at the Phillip Island circuit and then again in Malaysia in what was a dominant performance on an unlikely bike.
In 2008 he was still on the Ducati Desmosedici winning the first ever night race for MotoGP in Qatar. Stoner struggled for the next 5 races before winning at Donington , Assen and Sachsenring . Injuries suffered in the German GP in a hail of rain left him unable to retain the title. The season meant we got to see epic battles with Valentino Rossi (pretty much known as the MotoGP GOAT) and when it came to the USGP we got a treat!! Stoner dominated every practice session, but Rossi managed to stay right with him in the race, taking the win with a famous cork screwing that also lit up BARF. Epic stuff! Brno and Misano had Stoner crashing while he was leading both. A practice crash in Misano left him with a fracture, but he still raced. I went to Indy for the inaugural Indy GP which took place in some of the most severe weather ever for a GP. I could not believe these guys were riding in what looked like a stream of water on every inch of pavement . Stoner took 4th and then he was quickly back on the podium in Motegi, but it was Rossi’s year and the title chase ended before the season. Stoner would still win at Phillip Island dominating from the green flag and he finished the season with another win at Valencia, his 6th of the year. After season surgery on the wrist meant a full return to health for 2009.
Casey’s fourth season in MotoGP started with victory in Qatar for the third year in a row, but it was his victory at Mugello that was epic for a Ducati, having been the first ever of the Bolognese house in the "home" circuit after 7 years of domination by Valentino Rossi . Stoner ended up getting sick and did not start the Czech Republic Grand Prix and missed the three following races with the illness that was a bit of a mystery. The Australian returned for the Grand Prix of Portugal , where he managed 2nd place. Once again he won the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island on his home track and repeated at Sepang . Valencia saw Stoner fall on the recon lap and at the end of the season he finished 4th.
The 2010 began with a pole at Qatar, but he crashed out of the lead. A fifth in Jerez left him lacking in points and the bad luck continued in Le Mans with another crash. He then won Aragon , Japan and Australia (fourth consecutive time after starting from pole position) and took second in the USGP and in Valencia he took second and then followed with podiums in Holland , Catalonia, Germany and Czech Republic . A crash in Malaysia on the first lap left him 4th again for the season. In July Ducati announced that with the last race of the 2010 championship the collaboration with Stoner is over. The same day, Honda announced that the Australian will be an official HRC pilot in 2011.
Now on the Honda Stoner started 2011 with a pole position and another victory in Qatar. In Jerez he nabbed the pole but his race ended with him on the ground due to an incident with Valentino Rossi. Portugal saw him on the pole again, but he only managed a third in the race. He won again at Le Mans, Barcelona and Silverstone and a second in Holland behind Ben Spies. Then a third in Italy and Germany put him in the title hunt. A win at Laguna and the Czech Republic was followed with another in Indy for his seventh victory of the season. His third at Misano was followed with another win in Aragon. In Japan he finished third again after starting from pole position. In Australia, on the day of his 26th birthday, he won again and for the second time became world champion with two races left. He went on to win again in Valencia after a dog fight with Ben Spies.
In 2012 he was still winning, including the USGP at Laguna, but announced he would retire after the season. Stoner won for the sixth consecutive year in Australia once again starting from pole position. After a qualifying crash in Indy he did not take part in the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, San Marino and Aragon due to his right ankle . He still ended the season in 3rd place after his final GP podium in Valencia. Stoner was still in his prime and the retirement was for sure a big discussion topic on BARF, where he took some crap for sure. :laughing
In 2015 he signed to race in the 8 Hours of Suzuka for Honda. Early in the race while in first position, he crashed braking his scapula and tibia due to a malfunction to the accelerator found on his Honda CBR.
Since he has done testing for HRC, but rumors about him filling in have never come true. Stoner was certainly a talented and yet maligned racer. Whether you like him or not.. he was a bad ass.