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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Noyes’ Notebook - Irreplaceable, Pt. II
Dennis Noyes considers how Casey Stoner stacks up against his fellow legends of the modern era and whether or not he might yet change his mind.
2011 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner (Photo: Dorna Communications)
Stoner’s Legacy
I have always disliked 'silly season' speculation so early in the year, but the sudden decision to retire by a 26-year-old reigning champion in a year when all the top riders in MotoGP run out of contract makes it inevitable. While we'll follow the two-man battle for the crown between Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo over the remainder of the season, we will also be closely following the backstory of contract offers and negotiations.
Today, however, let’s take a long look at Casey Stoner's accomplishments and especially at what he was able to do with a bike -- the Ducati 800cc -- that great riders like Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, among others, were never to tame.
If Stoner manages to win the 2012 MotoGP World Championship and retires with three MotoGP titles, he will be only the third rider voluntarily leave the sport while at the very top. The first was John Surtees who quit MV Agusta at the end of the 1960 season as reigning champion in both the 350cc and 500cc classes. Surtees had won seven titles, three in 250cc and four in 500cc, and left the sport because MV did not allow him to take part in international races with his own machines. He went on to become the only rider in history to win both a motorcycle Grand Prix and Formula 1 World Championship (Surtees won the F1 title with Ferrari in 1963).
The other rider to leave voluntarily while both reigning champion from the previous season and 500cc championship leader at the time of his retirement was Rhodesian Gary Hocking. He won both the 350cc and 500cc titles in 1961 and was leading the 500cc points table after the opening race, but decided to retire before the second round of 1962. He was affected by the death of his close friend Tom Phillis in the 350cc race at the Isle of Man and believed that both he and teammate Mike Hailwood would push each other to very dangerous limits on the unprotected tracks of the 1962 season. He sat out the season but was killed in a Formula 1 race in Durban, South Africa in mid-December at just 25.
Stoner first came to attention in Europe when competing in the British and Spanish 125 nationals. It was in the Spanish series that he attracted the attention of former 500 GP winner Alberto Puig who, while working as a sort of talent scout for Dorna, befriended the Stoner family and arranged backing for the young Australian in the CEV 125 Championship.
Stoner scored his first GP points in 2001 on a 125 Honda at the Australian Grand Prix. In 2002 he made a somewhat precipitous move to the 250 class scoring a best finish of fifth place and finishing 12th overall.
A return to 125cc in 2003 saw him take his first win at Valencia and finish 8th overall riding a Honda. In 2004 he scored a second win, this time in Malaysia and riding for KTM, and was fifth in the final points.
In 2005 he returned to 250cc riding for Aprilia and finished second to Dani Pedrosa (Honda), taking five wins.
Although he was courted by both Aprilia and Honda teams for the 2006 250 season, he signed with the LCR Honda satellite team and rode a V5 990cc Honda. He was on the pole at Qatar in only his second start where he was fifth and took second at Istanbul in only his third MotoGP race. He crashed frequently, losing the front, and complained that he was not given the top-of-the-line Michelins. Crew chief Ramón Forcada, now with Lorenzo, said that Stoner was as fast as anyone he had ever seen but simply did not accept the limits of being a satellite rider against factory men on faster bikes with better tires.
I have always disliked 'silly season' speculation so early in the year, but the sudden decision to retire by a 26-year-old reigning champion in a year when all the top riders in MotoGP run out of contract makes it inevitable. While we'll follow the two-man battle for the crown between Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo over the remainder of the season, we will also be closely following the backstory of contract offers and negotiations.
Today, however, let’s take a long look at Casey Stoner's accomplishments and especially at what he was able to do with a bike -- the Ducati 800cc -- that great riders like Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, among others, were never to tame.
If Stoner manages to win the 2012 MotoGP World Championship and retires with three MotoGP titles, he will be only the third rider voluntarily leave the sport while at the very top. The first was John Surtees who quit MV Agusta at the end of the 1960 season as reigning champion in both the 350cc and 500cc classes. Surtees had won seven titles, three in 250cc and four in 500cc, and left the sport because MV did not allow him to take part in international races with his own machines. He went on to become the only rider in history to win both a motorcycle Grand Prix and Formula 1 World Championship (Surtees won the F1 title with Ferrari in 1963).
The other rider to leave voluntarily while both reigning champion from the previous season and 500cc championship leader at the time of his retirement was Rhodesian Gary Hocking. He won both the 350cc and 500cc titles in 1961 and was leading the 500cc points table after the opening race, but decided to retire before the second round of 1962. He was affected by the death of his close friend Tom Phillis in the 350cc race at the Isle of Man and believed that both he and teammate Mike Hailwood would push each other to very dangerous limits on the unprotected tracks of the 1962 season. He sat out the season but was killed in a Formula 1 race in Durban, South Africa in mid-December at just 25.
Stoner first came to attention in Europe when competing in the British and Spanish 125 nationals. It was in the Spanish series that he attracted the attention of former 500 GP winner Alberto Puig who, while working as a sort of talent scout for Dorna, befriended the Stoner family and arranged backing for the young Australian in the CEV 125 Championship.
Stoner scored his first GP points in 2001 on a 125 Honda at the Australian Grand Prix. In 2002 he made a somewhat precipitous move to the 250 class scoring a best finish of fifth place and finishing 12th overall.
A return to 125cc in 2003 saw him take his first win at Valencia and finish 8th overall riding a Honda. In 2004 he scored a second win, this time in Malaysia and riding for KTM, and was fifth in the final points.
In 2005 he returned to 250cc riding for Aprilia and finished second to Dani Pedrosa (Honda), taking five wins.
Although he was courted by both Aprilia and Honda teams for the 2006 250 season, he signed with the LCR Honda satellite team and rode a V5 990cc Honda. He was on the pole at Qatar in only his second start where he was fifth and took second at Istanbul in only his third MotoGP race. He crashed frequently, losing the front, and complained that he was not given the top-of-the-line Michelins. Crew chief Ramón Forcada, now with Lorenzo, said that Stoner was as fast as anyone he had ever seen but simply did not accept the limits of being a satellite rider against factory men on faster bikes with better tires.
Grand Prix of The France
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