Casey Stoner
Casey Stoner (born 16 October 1985 in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia ) is a retired Australian motorcycle racer.
Stoner will start in the MotoGP class of the motorcycle world championship since 2006. In 2007 he was on the Ducati for the first time world champion in this class.
In 2011, he won on Honda for the second time for the world title. With over 30 victories, he is one of the most successful riders in the MotoGP class.
- 2.1 Achievements
- 2.2 In the World Motorcycle Championship
- 4.1 External links
- 4.2 Notes and references
Career
Early years
Casey Stoner began his career in Europe in 2000 in the Spanish and British 125cc Championship. In 2001 he finished the eighth liter class in the British championship behind Leon Camier in second. In 2001, he was also on a Honda made his debut in the 125cc class of the MotoGP World Championship. The following year he moved permanently into the World Cup, where he contested the 250 cc class on an Aprilia in the team of Lucio Cecchinello. Stoner finished second in this year with 68 points in twelfth place overall.
The 2003 season went along with team boss Cecchinello Stoner, who at the time was even still active in the 125 cc class. At the Italian Grand Prix, the Australian won his first pole position and the last race of the season, the Grand Prix of Valencia at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, he was even able to celebrate his first victory. At the end of the season, he finished with 125 points to eighth place in the championship standings.
In the next season Stoner for KTM in turn in the 125 cc class, which he completed after a win, two second and three third places, as well as a pole position with 145 points as the fifth overall.
In 2005 he returned to the LCR team of Lucio Cecchinello and contested the 250 cc class on an Aprilia factory bike. Until the third last race Stoner fought the Spaniards Dani Pedrosa for the World Championship title, just with his home Grand Prix at Phillip Iceland he fell however and was ultimately with five wins and ten podium finishes runner-up.
MotoGP class
Due to the dominance of Valentino Rossi and Yamaha in the MotoGP class, Honda decided to focus more on young drivers and offer aging stars like Max Biaggi, Alex Barros and Sete Gibernau no new contracts for the 2006 season. Since Sito Pons his sponsor Camel lost to the factory Yamaha team and could not find a suitable replacement, he pulled his team back from the MotoGP class. This Honda motorcycles were free and Stoner's team boss Lucio Cecchinello decided to make one with Stoner MotoGP team for 2006 at the legs. The season opener was very promising for the Australians, already the second Grand Prix, the Grand Prix of Qatar at Losail, he won his first pole position and at the next race in Turkey, he was even second in the race. After that, he was able to regularly go to the top 10, but also crashed often in a promising position.
Season 2007
For the 2007 season, Casey Stoner was long with Yamaha as a possible team-mate Valentino Rossi in conversation, but in October 2006 he signed a contract with Ducati. The Italian team desperately needed a driver as a replacement for Sete Gibernau, who had ended his career after failed contract negotiations. Later, the leaders admitted to be received with Stoner's commitment a big risk because you could not judge before the season starts, what achievements he should be capable of. Stoner himself stressed that the chance of a factory bike was crucial for his decision. The Australians started furiously into the season. At the opening race, the Grand Prix of Qatar, he could retract a better game mainly because of the superior speed of his Ducati. After further victories at the races in Turkey and China, the competition still prophesied, the Ducati could be victorious only on slopes with long straights. After Casey Stoner had defeated the World Cup favorites and seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi at the Grand Prix of Catalunya on the technically demanding slope of Barcelona, he was numbered among the serious title contenders. After another, partly superior victories in Great Britain, the USA, the Czech Republic and San Marino Casey Stoner already in the fourth last race, the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi, the world title. By season's end, he had ten wins and a total of 14 podium finishes available to book. Stoner gave the little Bolognese factory Ducati so that the first world title in the history of the FIM Motorcycle Road World Cup ever, and is the first world champion of the Champions League on a non-Japanese brand since Phil Read in 1974.
Season 2008-2010
In the 2008 season, Stoner started with a victory in Qatar, then he had a weak period, by which he lost in the overall number of points on Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa. After his Ducati was equipped with a new engine electronics, he resurgent middle of the season and celebrated three victories in a row, which again strongly improved its position in the fight for the world title. However, after Stoner crashed in three successive runs each in a promising position lying and fell in the title fight against Valentino Rossi back.
At the last race of the 2009 season Stoner crashed in the warm-up lap and could not thereby participate in the race. Could the 2008 Australian nor Vice World Champion, the next two seasons were completed as each fourth overall place. Stoner had to fight over at Ducati after some moderate results with motivation problems. His specifically propelled Ducati helped that he went often to the limit in 2010, and fell. At the end of the contract by the Australian was not renewed with the Italians, he moved to the Honda factory team Repsol Honda, where he met the Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Italian Andrea Dovizioso.
Season 2011
Showed Even in the winter test drives Stoner avoid transition problems on his new Honda. He has always been one of the fastest and immediately won the first race of the season in Qatar. By the sixth round in the UK the Australians get four wins. In the course of the year, world champion Jorge Lorenzo should prove to be his toughest opponent, because his teammate Pedrosa had bad luck with injuries and veteran Valentino Rossi with the Ducati inferior car on the road. So Stoner was already in the 16th round, securing his home Grand Prix at Phillip Iceland the world title.
Season 2012
So the Australians went as a world champion in the Repsol Honda team alongside Dani Pedrosa in the 2012 season. Starting this year, 1000 - cc engines were in the MotoGP class allowed again, which is why he took on one of the all-new Honda RC213V. After the first three races Stoner had two wins on the account. A little later, on May 17 he announced his resignation at the end of the season. Then arose as Jorge Lorenzo ( Yamaha) out to be more stable pilot. After the Stoner in training rushed to the Indianapolis Grand Prix and three races could not deny he had no chance of defending the title. On 11 November 2012, he contested the Grand Prix of Valencia in his last race in the Motorcycle World Championship and finished it in third place. In the overall classification he was also third parties.
After his career end Casey Stoner was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame.
Statistics
Achievements
- 2007 - MotoGP world champion on Ducati
- 2011 - MotoGP World Champion on Honda
- 45 Grand Prix wins
In the World Motorcycle Championship
Private
Casey Stoner is married since 6 January 2007, three years younger Adriana Tuchyna who accompanied him to every race. The two met during an autograph session at Stoner's Australian home know. Tuchyna comes from a Slovak immigrant family from Adelaide, her father is himself a former race car driver.
Stoner and his wife are parents of a daughter (* 2012).