There are very few riders who have stayed in the hearts of fans like Casey Stoner. There are still a lot of people who would love to see him again in the races, in a challenge with another phenomenon like Marc Marquez. The Australian had a long chat with Chris Vermeulen about his past, present and future in a video that you can watch above.
“For me, finishing the race was a release. I loved working with the team and qualifying.”
Like the fans, Casey revealed that he, too, often thought about what would happen if he had kept racing.
“Without a doubt I would have asked for more championships, if I had won another one that I don’t know, that’s up for debate. Sometimes I had small wishes to come back, not necessarily because of the racing aspect, but I loved it.” I know it sounds stupid, but I liked the training sessions when the weather was fine and the bike was working great. I liked the qualification and the little pressure to do everything right for one lap. I liked that very much. The race wasn’t exactly my nicest part because you put all that effort into 20 laps and you can’t go wrong and it’s so easy to go wrong on these bikes. A little twitch of the finger on the front brake at the wrong moment and you’re down there is so much pressure on it. For me, finishing the race was more of a release for me, whether I won or lost. It was a great relief for me, I did my job. That aspect, which I didn’t really miss, but missed working with the team, qualifying and feeling the best I can, was a fantastic feeling for me. “
“I stopped being a test driver for Honda because the young gun that comes through didn’t want me.”
Stoner had been a test driver for a number of years.
“I tried Honda at the beginning, but the young gun that came through pushed him out a bit. He didn’t want me with him,” admitted Casey and his words seem to be a clear reference to Marc Marquez.
Then it was Ducati’s turn …
“We tried that with Ducati too, but we couldn’t agree and we had to step down from that role. I felt like I couldn’t give the team what I wanted. I knew what the riders wanted, we had worked really well together but unfortunately the drivers are not always in charge, with some manufacturers they say dates and what they believe is the right direction and it doesn’t always go well with the drivers. Changing the right things on the bike and moving forward was a constant challenge. It was hard work and it was a little difficult in Australia so I kind of stepped back from that role. “
“I think I still have a lot to give MotoGP”
This does not mean that Stoner has finally closed the doors to the MotoGP World Championship …
“I still think that I have a lot to give our sport and that in some aspects I can help outside the box and see things differently. I I’m certainly not going to go in and find solutions etc, but I know what needs to be done to win races. At the same time, I may have to wait for this chronic fatigue to pass. Therefore, I am currently trying to put all my efforts into this and my family. Then we’ll see what the future holds. To be honest, I would like to be a little more involved in MotoGP. “”
“Miller deserved the Ducati factory, I was impressed with the way he has evolved.”
Casey also commented on Miller’s arrival on the official Ducati team.
“I don’t know if I have any advice. J.ack has really matured over the past few years and I was impressed with the way he structured and developed himself. This shows in the results, the way he works, his focus and his motivation. Everything seems to grow from year to year, the results have been really consistent. I would still love to see him work better on the harder tires knowing you don’t have to worry about the end of the race. I think he will do a great job and Ducati made the right choiceWe just have to see which Ducati rider will be his teammate. Jack fully deserved this opportunity; He’ll have to understand that the factory bike won’t take a big step beyond what he’s already riding, but what will be different is the support he’ll get. “
“Nobody can compete with what Mick Doohan did”
Speaking of Australians, he has a very special one in his heart….
“I started when I was 4 and from 5 or 6 it was Mick Doohan who was my idol from that age. There is no one who can keep up with what they did when you take all of their surgeries into account and then come back after those injuries and be as successful as they are. He’s the GOAT in my eyes, his determination has kept me going over the years. “
When it comes to a dream motorcycle, his preference goes to the Honda …
“In terms of racing bikes, the 2012 Honda was probably the ultimate bike with the first version of the Bridgestone before they were switched at the beginning of the season. I was really at one with the way it spun, it had grip and it was comfortable and after the initial testing they changed the tire options and we had nothing but chatter and struggled with it for the rest of the year. Before that, it was the ultimate bike I had ever ridden. “”
“Phillip Island? I didn’t enjoy the track at first.”
Stoner couldn’t fail to talk about Phillip Island, the track where he was the undisputed king with 6 straight wins from 2007 to 2012. What was his secret?
“I’m not sure what it was because in my early years, to be honest, I didn’t enjoy the track – he confessed with a smile – I had heard all these great things but I had never driven there before leaving Australia. Every year after that, I really struggled and didn’t enjoy it. But when you ride a MotoGP around town it starts to get fun. You try to create grip wherever you can. Everything came back to me from my days on the dirt roads. When I went there in MotoGP, I found a new love for it. “
For him it was a magical place: in 2009 he won there again after a long stop due to health problems.
“This season has been a struggle for us because we had so many problems at the beginning of the season. I don’t think I trained before Phillip Island for about 8 months – he remembered – they found out in Portugal that it was me . ” Lactose intolerance, but from then on I felt better day by day. I wasn’t exactly confident about Phillip Island, I still hadn’t exercised a lot and spent a lot of time off the bike. It was an amazing feeling to just be able to get back to the top, hold Valentino back for victory again and make it a “three-peat” at the time. “
Perhaps the most special win was the one in 2011, when Casey won the title after Lorenzo injured himself in the warm-up …
“That probably made it harder for me to be honest – he said – it’s never an opportunity to win a championship. We knew we had the pace to win in the dry, but when it starts, on slippery tires to rain, it is not like that. ” Fun and this race was just terrible. Up through Lukey it was like a wall of water, many people fell. With two or three laps to go, I hit that wall of water and almost threw it away at the last corner kept winning the championship and having so many things to do on the same day, my birthday, fifth in a row, won the title, home GP, it was special “.