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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Is Stoner Among The Best Ever?
Is Casey Stoner one of the sport's all-time greats? Fan opinion may conflict with the raw numbers, but there is no denying he's MotoGP's man of the moment.
Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner (Photo: Honda Pro Images)
At just 25 years of age, Casey Stoner stands as a MotoGP World Champion who has already amassed more premier class victories than legends Kenny Roberts, Barry Sheene, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner, Wayne Rainey, and Kevin Schwantz (and watch out Eddie Lawson -- you're in danger of being overtaken this season as well) -- yet one rarely hears him labeled as a developing all-time great.
In fact, it seems that Stoner's name is seldom even bandied about as a modern-era great, forever overshadowed by megastar Valentino Rossi and the emerging Jorge Lorenzo.
However, the numbers tell a different story… Even when including Stoner's winless rookie season on a satellite LCR Honda, the Australian has scored more victories during his time in MotoGP than Rossi has over that same span (27 to 26), while also notching up seven more pole positions than his nemesis (26 to 19).
And if Stoner picks up a fourth consecutive win next time out at Assen, he'll have as many career class victories as reigning champ Lorenzo and Repsol Honda golden boy Dani Pedrosa combined.
A bit of backtracking is now underway concerning the assumption that Stoner's past success could be largely credited due to some sort of machinery advantage on the red bike despite his revolving door of teammates' perpetual inability to come to terms with the screaming V4. Even developmental genius Rossi has struggled to tame the Desmosedici, posting dry-track qualifying times on the order of an astonishing four seconds slower than Stoner this past weekend at Silverstone.
Stoner, meanwhile, was literally the fastest man on the planet the first time he ever threw a leg over Honda's potent '11 RC212V and he hasn't looked back since.
So exactly why has Stoner rarely been given his due? There are a number of reasons but the biggest is quite likely simply because the collective MotoGP fandom would prefer not to. He's always been the underdog -- but not in the lovable type of underdog you root for, rather something more in line with the fictional antagonist who you know is only being established as formidable so that the conquering hero looks all the more heroic when he finally defeats him in the end.
For an overwhelming percentage of race fans Stoner is the foil. The thorn in their sides. The obstacle in their path.
While Rossi and Lorenzo are charismatic and as quick with a smile and a quip as they are to twist the throttle, Stoner's public persona is prickly and dour. And combined with his relative youth, this comes across as more of a constant whine than a calculated means of intimidation as was the case with fellow Australian Mat Mladin during his AMA Superbike reign.
It probably doesn't help that Stoner has publicly clashed with, and openly criticized, the massively popular Rossi on multiple occasions in the past -- as sure a recipe as you can devise to become MotoGP's public enemy #1.
In fact, it seems that Stoner's name is seldom even bandied about as a modern-era great, forever overshadowed by megastar Valentino Rossi and the emerging Jorge Lorenzo.
However, the numbers tell a different story… Even when including Stoner's winless rookie season on a satellite LCR Honda, the Australian has scored more victories during his time in MotoGP than Rossi has over that same span (27 to 26), while also notching up seven more pole positions than his nemesis (26 to 19).
And if Stoner picks up a fourth consecutive win next time out at Assen, he'll have as many career class victories as reigning champ Lorenzo and Repsol Honda golden boy Dani Pedrosa combined.
A bit of backtracking is now underway concerning the assumption that Stoner's past success could be largely credited due to some sort of machinery advantage on the red bike despite his revolving door of teammates' perpetual inability to come to terms with the screaming V4. Even developmental genius Rossi has struggled to tame the Desmosedici, posting dry-track qualifying times on the order of an astonishing four seconds slower than Stoner this past weekend at Silverstone.
Stoner, meanwhile, was literally the fastest man on the planet the first time he ever threw a leg over Honda's potent '11 RC212V and he hasn't looked back since.
So exactly why has Stoner rarely been given his due? There are a number of reasons but the biggest is quite likely simply because the collective MotoGP fandom would prefer not to. He's always been the underdog -- but not in the lovable type of underdog you root for, rather something more in line with the fictional antagonist who you know is only being established as formidable so that the conquering hero looks all the more heroic when he finally defeats him in the end.
For an overwhelming percentage of race fans Stoner is the foil. The thorn in their sides. The obstacle in their path.
While Rossi and Lorenzo are charismatic and as quick with a smile and a quip as they are to twist the throttle, Stoner's public persona is prickly and dour. And combined with his relative youth, this comes across as more of a constant whine than a calculated means of intimidation as was the case with fellow Australian Mat Mladin during his AMA Superbike reign.
It probably doesn't help that Stoner has publicly clashed with, and openly criticized, the massively popular Rossi on multiple occasions in the past -- as sure a recipe as you can devise to become MotoGP's public enemy #1.
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