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MotoGP
MOTO: 2012’s Biggest Surprise - Sayonara Stoner
Casey Stoner shocked the world by walking away from MotoGP following the 2012 season.
Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner (Photo: HRC)
The early rumors were almost impossible to fathom and easily dismissed when Casey Stoner stated they were false. There was no way the two-time MotoGP champion was preparing to walk away from the sport following the 2012 season, was there?
After all, Stoner was still just 26 years of age and just beginning to reap the benefits of finally earning a place inside Honda's factory team.
Blessed with talent that promised/threatened a decade of dominance still to come, Stoner had already racked up more wins than any number of Grand Prix legends (including all of the American superstars -- Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Freddie Spencer, Kenny Roberts, etc.) to go along with his two MotoGP titles.
And while he lacked the pop-star status of Valentino Rossi -- considered by many to be the greatest of all time -- Stoner's head-to-head record actually vastly outstripped the Italian's -- whose struggles at Ducati only further bolstered the Aussie's surging reputation, who repeatedly willed the Desmosedici to wins whereas the magical Rossi could not.
Stoner was firmly entrenched as the team leader at Repsol Honda, knocking long-time Honda golden boy Dani Pedrosa from his pedestal (and even putting the Spaniard's future with the team in doubt, with Marc Marquez waiting in the wings), and there was absolutely no reason to believe Stoner wouldn't continue to rack up race wins and championships for years and years.
Oh, and by the way, Honda was offering Stoner $15 million to return in 2013.
Who could possibly walk away from all that?
Stoner, as it turns out. Not particularly interested in the record books or blockbuster deals (at one point it was rumored that he never even negotiated a contract, always accepting the first reasonable offer from the team of his choice), he was even less enthralled with the unavoidable 'public figure' aspect of the job, and stood out as an outspoken critic of the direction in which MotoGP was headed.
After all, Stoner was still just 26 years of age and just beginning to reap the benefits of finally earning a place inside Honda's factory team.
Blessed with talent that promised/threatened a decade of dominance still to come, Stoner had already racked up more wins than any number of Grand Prix legends (including all of the American superstars -- Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Freddie Spencer, Kenny Roberts, etc.) to go along with his two MotoGP titles.
And while he lacked the pop-star status of Valentino Rossi -- considered by many to be the greatest of all time -- Stoner's head-to-head record actually vastly outstripped the Italian's -- whose struggles at Ducati only further bolstered the Aussie's surging reputation, who repeatedly willed the Desmosedici to wins whereas the magical Rossi could not.
Stoner was firmly entrenched as the team leader at Repsol Honda, knocking long-time Honda golden boy Dani Pedrosa from his pedestal (and even putting the Spaniard's future with the team in doubt, with Marc Marquez waiting in the wings), and there was absolutely no reason to believe Stoner wouldn't continue to rack up race wins and championships for years and years.
Oh, and by the way, Honda was offering Stoner $15 million to return in 2013.
Who could possibly walk away from all that?
Stoner, as it turns out. Not particularly interested in the record books or blockbuster deals (at one point it was rumored that he never even negotiated a contract, always accepting the first reasonable offer from the team of his choice), he was even less enthralled with the unavoidable 'public figure' aspect of the job, and stood out as an outspoken critic of the direction in which MotoGP was headed.
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