{"id":233012,"date":"2025-10-22T17:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T17:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/233012\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T17:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T17:40:13","slug":"casey-stoner-i-never-got-respect-in-motogp-its-only-happening-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/233012\/","title":{"rendered":"Casey Stoner: ‘I never got respect in MotoGP, it’s only happening now’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Phillip Island<\/a>, home of the Australian Grand Prix, is as unpredictable as it is spectacular. Spring winds and sudden storms have regularly turned the circuit into a battlefield of elements \u2013 races delayed, red-flagged, or even cancelled, with wildlife occasionally joining the chaos.<\/p>\n

Amid this ever-shifting stage, one rider consistently rose above it all. Casey Stoner<\/a>\u2018s six-year unbeaten run from 2007 to 2012 was built on sheer authority, mastery of MotoGP physics, and an uncanny ability to thrive under pressure.<\/p>\n

The Australian turned 40 on the eve of the race a few days ago. He has now been retired two years longer than the 11 seasons he raced at world championship level. Stoner\u2019s seven terms in the MotoGP class delivered two titles with two different brands (Ducati<\/a>\u2018s first ever in 2007 and for HRC in 2011, before his withdrawal allowed Honda<\/a> to fast-track Marc M\u00e1rquez<\/a>\u2018s path) and he didn\u2019t drop out of the top four in the standings for six of those campaigns.<\/p>\n

Stoner claimed 33% of his MotoGP starts, was on the podium 69 times from those 115 appearances and is fifth in the all-time list for pole positions. Among the slew of results, he bewitched opponents and fans with his sensitivity and natural feeling for the motorcycle that translated to unbeatable speed in double-quick time. \u201cOne of my proudest stats is that I won at every single track where I raced a MotoGP bike, and I think there are not many people who can say that,\u201d he told Motor Sport without bluster. \u201cEven if the track was only on the calendar for two years I still won on it. That showed my ability to adapt to all situations, all circuits, all grip levels. And, for me, showed that I was a little more well-rounded than people thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Valentino<\/p>\n

Stoner gave Ducati its first ever MotoGP title<\/p>\n

Stoner\u2019s ghost loitered around MotoGP for years in one of those \u2018you don\u2019t know what you had until it\u2019s gone\u2019 phenomena. True, after 2012 the series quickly hurried into M\u00e1rquez hype-and-wonder, and MotoGP has rarely been more tribal and uglier when Valentino Rossi<\/a> picked the Spaniard as Stoner\u2019s successor in terms of being the next arch-rival who-cannot-be-toyed-with. But Stoner surfaced now and again at events, like Goodwood Festival of Speed and at GPs in representative roles for Ducati and for HRC and, to this day, is a fierce ambassador for safety and apparel leaders Alpinestars. A smash while testing for Honda in an attempt at the Suzuka<\/a> 8-hour in 2015 effectively ended his days on a bike at speed. He then struggled further with his health.<\/p>\n

\u201cChronic Fatigue Syndrome,\u201d he half-grimaced of a condition also known as ME. \u201cMy mind and body shut down, and I had no control. It was pure exhaustion 24 hours a day and it\u2019s only been the last one\/two years that I have been slowly building up my mind\u2019s resilience again to be able to choose what I was thinking. Before then, I was very lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2025 Stoner has eased his way back into the MotoGP spotlight with the same grace as he used to handle a throttle. A demo retro ride-out at the Austrian Grand Prix in the summer (where he gathered considerable media interest) was followed by a week in Italy as he willingly joined the ceremony for the MotoGP Hall of Fame before the San Marino Grand Prix in September. During the weekend and the following IRTA test day, Stoner roamed the pitlane and was giving advice to riders. He also found time to sit in the swanky HRC hospitality and talk about what happens to an athlete\u2019s greatness in the aftermath.<\/p>\n

\"Andrea<\/p>\n

Andrea Dovizioso, Luca Cadalora, Giacomo Agostini and Stoner during the Austrian GP<\/p>\n

\n Red Bull\n <\/p>\n

Trying to tap into his former brilliance (and his appreciation of it) means peeling back the onion layers of a mentality. Fortunately, Stoner is great at dissection. He once said in a podcast interview, \u201cI\u2019m not a one-dimensional rider\u201d, and this could easily be applied to his fortitude, as much as his methodology towards racing. \u201cThere is no such thing as perfection\u2026but striving for it is as good as you\u2019re gonna get,\u201d he underlined at Misano<\/a>. \u201cMe personally, I was always looking to my negatives and where I was struggling the most compared to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unobtainable perfection,\u201d he continued. \u201cLike golf, and that\u2019s what makes it so attractive to so many people. It\u2019s about going out on the range and working on things, and you might become good in one area while another area slips: it\u2019s just part of life and the process. The way I worked on motorcycles, I didn\u2019t necessarily slip anywhere by losing my good attributes, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stoner quickly contrasts and compares. \u201cA good example for me, especially these days, is that too many [MotoGP riders] are focusing far too much on braking points and if you are on the absolute limit every lap on the brakes then you are going to make a mistake. You are always looking or striving for that comfort under brakes because that\u2019s where you think you can make time. You set the bike up for that and it becomes worse everywhere else. You\u2019ve just lost all the positives the bike has in other places.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learnt my lesson massively in 2010 in Japan. It\u2019s very much a hard-braking track and very back-and-forward in Motegi<\/a>. In the first session the bike was wheelying everywhere, and it was hopping and moving and not stable at all on the brakes. We were fast in the first session but we struggled. So, we worked on the bike all weekend and got it better, better and better and it was so stable.<\/p>\n

\"Casey<\/p>\n

His second title came with Honda in 2011<\/p>\n

\n Red Bull\n <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was almost doing what I wanted it to do out of the corners\u2026but I was as slow as hell. We went backwards. The bike was better, we were slower. So, in morning warm-up before the race we went back to the exact same set-up as the first session, and I said I\u2019d deal with the issues just because I knew we had speed from it. I went out and won the race, when I had no right to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe positives of that set-up far outweighed what we had to run with,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was far more tiring, a more difficult race\u2026but we won. I learned a lot from that. Too many others search for that \u2018feel\u2019 and sometimes you have to go out there and make it happen. Even when it doesn\u2019t feel right then as long as it works then that\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stoner did things his own way, he said things he wanted to say and he did things he wanted to do. The ultimate example of this was leaving a lucrative Honda contract and MotoGP altogether at 27 (two-thirds of the current grid are the same or older) due to disillusionment with the championship and the extra PR demands of the role. His uniqueness also comes through his riding. He explains the minutiae of technique very well, and his breakdown of the corner named after him at Phillip Island (where he would apply a dirtrack sensibility to the line and speed to gain an advantage that hardly anybody could replicate) is mesmerising.<\/p>\n

But, for all his wider perspective, Stoner\u2019s own humility blocks appreciation of the fact that he could steer a motorcycle unlike anyone else. A partial explanation of his success makes light of the skill and adaptation that it required. \u201cI knew I couldn\u2019t do things that my competitors could, I didn\u2019t have the confidence,\u201d he says, without a trace of irony.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne year in particular we didn\u2019t have the bike [we needed] so we went left-of-field. The set-up we ran? Nobody in their right mind would have enjoyed it but, bloody hell, did it work. I had to change the way I rode and the way I looked at circuits and the way we\u2019d normally attack a circuit because the bike did different things in a different part of the corner and line. But it worked. We pulled something out of nothing and from a set-up that was very unique. Normally not something I\u2019d like\u2026but we had to get a result and we had to think outside the box. We started winning races again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Casey<\/p>\n

Stoner lost out to Lorenzo in 2012<\/p>\n

\n Red Bull\n <\/p>\n

The 2007 world championship was won thanks to 10 victories and a further four podiums. It was only his second MotoGP season and his first with Ducati. His lowest result was a sixth place. He was 21. By the time of his second title in just a two-year spell with Honda, and after some memorable tussles with Rossi (with whom his relationship now seems to be one of genuine mutual affection), Jorge Lorenzo<\/a> and Dani Pedrosa<\/a> he was already cementing his name as a modern MotoGP icon. What did it feel like to know he was that good?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I was racing I never thought that,\u201d he revealed. \u201cI never had that arrogance of \u2018I\u2019m the best\u2019. I had people like Jorge, Vale\u2026[to beat]. Maybe in 2007 I got a little bit cocky when I was doing very well: it was my first time with success. Very young. But I quickly learned my lessons, which I am very grateful for. I then started viewing things a bit differently. I believe you have to take pride out of the equation. As soon as you have too much pride then you stop looking at yourself as the area that needs improving. You\u2019ll look to the bike or another excuse, another reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

What were the lessons? \u201cI\u2019ve never been the guy to go and buy cars and that stuff,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI always felt guilty spending money. I\u2019ve never rubbed it in people\u2019s faces, and I don\u2019t think I was cocky around friends or family or anything like that. It was more over-confidence around competitors\u2026because we were doing well\u2026more general overconfidence about what we could achieve\u2026and not knowing how quickly things can turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

People struggled to understand Stoner. How someone so young but with a wizened \u2018old school\u2019 approach could upset the Rossi-marshalled establishment so quickly and in a matter of months after he\u2019d been labelled a serial crasher while in the 250s. His tendency to air his thoughts won fans and critics. It\u2019s a characteristic that hasn\u2019t ebbed to this day although he does seem to be more pliant to the promotional faff around MotoGP now.<\/p>\n

It was a side of the job that earned the tag \u201cbullcrap\u201d when he was racing. Casey\u2019s passionate railing against the advanced technical state of MotoGP feels a little like a \u2018man shakes fist at the sky\u2019 syndrome; after all, name a sport that has firmly closed the door on progression? But it comes from a place of concern and elite insight. After all, very few have made a similar mark on the championship and against such opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always trying to get more out of myself and everything around me rather than going \u2018it\u2019s incredible what we\u2019ve done\u2019,\u201d he explained. \u201cI think it was only 8-10 years after retirement that I really felt I started to get the respect that I was hoping for. I never had it while racing. There were always rumours about why I was fast, this-and-that. I never tried to correct too many people because I did not want to let my competitors know that I was as thoughtful as I was or as \u2018planning\u2019 as I was.<\/p>\n

\"Casey<\/p>\n

Stoner won at Phillip Island, his penultimate MotoGP race, in 2012<\/p>\n

\n Red Bull\n <\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to leave them in the dark and make them think that I only knew one speed, which was flat-out. But if you actually go back and watch my races then\u2026it was like poker. I never let them know what my plan was going to be at any point during a race. Sometimes it didn\u2019t work! But considering I was close to winning double the amount of races as my competitors then I like to think I got it a little more right than they did. In my opinion, sometimes with a machine that was sub-par to what they had.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many MotoGP fans then (and since) the end of Stoner\u2019s career was premature. It robbed the sport of two true titans going to battle: Stoner and M\u00e1rquez, and he\u2019s undoubtedly been reminded of this many times since. Stoner\u2019s call was not caused by injury or decline but exasperation, and perhaps the price of his dedication as well as the amount of years on the road within a family environment that pushed him to the brink. He was able to bring that knowledge to his own status as a father to two young girls, together with his wife Adriana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was brought up\u2026very tough,\u201d he hesitates. \u201cI\u2019ve found a middle ground because kids need a thumb. Often, they\u2019ll have a hard day and will give up. That\u2019s not the moment to give up, often it\u2019s when you decide to keep going. If you allow kids to make all the decisions\u2026then they won\u2019t know where to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted family. A life goal. Very fortunate to have met Adriana at a young age and to have the relationship that we do. It certainly wasn\u2019t a reason why I retired,\u201d he added. Stoner transitioned from MotoGP Don to Dad in another life chapter and while his daughters are only aware of his fame through YouTube or when they accompany him to events where everyone wants his photo, he didn\u2019t count on being sidelined as a further role model.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably my biggest regret [from retirement] was that I didn\u2019t bring them around and show them the cultures and the world we travelled and that kind of stuff,\u201d he says. \u201cMy kids did not grow up seeing what hard work, dedication and all these things that it takes to get to the top in MotoGP. Instead, they saw me for most of their lives sitting on a couch struggling with chronic fatigue being a lazy arse. It was hard for me to show them dedication to anything when I could not do it personally. That was the toughest time of being a dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stoner is slight, still in great trim and with the first wrinkles starting to crease a youthful face. His health is back on the mend, his financial position is secure thanks to some investments with his salary and bonuses, and he is now looking around for the next project \u2013 perhaps in MotoGP \u2013 to grab some of his replenishing energy. \u201cI was just a vessel at one point; existing without much purpose so it\u2019s been really nice to get things together and get the health back. I enjoy putting my mind to things and I\u2019ve been able to slowly compartmentalise what I want to do a bit easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was never an obsession, what I did, I was just good at getting things done in a short amount of time. Then, I didn\u2019t want to think any more about it. I don\u2019t sit and stir. I never saw my whole career as an obsession about bikes. I\u2019d be like I was on track: I\u2019d go out do shorter stints than everyone, less laps than everyone, get more out of it \u2013 in my opinion \u2013 than everyone in far less time. I didn\u2019t need to run ten laps to get a feel for a bike. I could do it in two. I suppose it was more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phillip Island, home of the Australian Grand Prix, is as unpredictable as it is spectacular. Spring winds and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,21588,5745,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-233012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-casey-stoner","11":"tag-motogp","12":"tag-motor","13":"tag-motor-sports","14":"tag-motosport","15":"tag-motosports","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}