Doohan: Casey Stoner can match Valentino Rossi's records

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Former world champion Mick Doohan believes Casey Stoner has the potential to beat Valentino Rossi's haul of seven premier class titles. Stoner took his second MotoGP crown at his home race in Australia on Sunday on his 26th birthday. And fellow Australian Doohan, who won five 500cc championships in a row in the 1990s, has backed Stoner to dominate the sport.

Doohan told BBC Sport: "Casey could win another five or six titles." Rossi has won nine world titles in all - seven in the top class and one each at 125cc and 250cc level - while Giacomo Agostini is the outright record holder with 15, eight of which came in the top class between 1966 and 1975. Stoner won his first world title for Ducati in 2007 before dominating this season on a Repsol Honda.

Doohan was similarly controlling for Honda in the 1990s and expects Stoner to move past his tally of 54 race wins. "Casey is still only young and it depends how long he can stay motivated," Doohan added. "Sportsmen have 10 years where they can really immerse themselves totally in their sport and live and breathe it.

"After that, no matter what sport it is, once you go beyond that 10 years of total dedication it becomes very hard to stay so focused. "So he has probably got another five years or so at the very top. If he stays on his current form then he could win another five or six titles, it's really up to him. "Bear in mind that he had a few years with Ducati when he was on a bike that wasn't really capable of mounting a serious challenge, so he could have already won a few more. "Where does he rank in the history of the sport? I'll leave that for people who have got nothing else better to do, but he is without a doubt one of the best of his generation.

"He will go down in the history books as one of the toughest riders there has ever been." Rossi has been the central figure in grand prix racing since Doohan retired through injury in 1999 but Stoner has put the Italian in the shade this season. Rossi has struggled in his first year on the Ducati Stoner rode last season, and is set to lose his record of winning at least one race in every year since his 125cc debut in 1996.

He has two more chances to maintain that sequence before the finale in Valencia next month but Doohan doubts Rossi can mount much of a challenge. "Rossi is a great rider and one hell of a competitor," Doohan said. "He has seven world titles in MotoGP and a few more in 125cc and 250cc prior to that so he has been around the block. "But he is not pushing himself beyond where he wants to at this part of his career. He's not willing to ride the Ducati like Casey was."

source: BBC

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Birthday boy Casey Stoner overjoyed at title success

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It’s hard to imagine life getting any better for Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner.

He clinched his second MotoGP world title in front of his home crowd at Phillip Island yesterday, his fifth win in a row in Australia also coming on his 26th birthday.

He’s also going to be a father for the first time in February and he said: "For all these things to be coming so close together, it feels unbelievable. Maybe I don’t put on a show like some other people, but I know what the feeling is like inside and that’s really all that matters. As long as I’m happy and the people around me are happy, that’s the most important thing.

To win this one here on my birthday, my home Grand Prix, and my second world championship, is something just unbelievable. There’s not a lot of people who’ll have that sort of chance to do that, so I’m very thankful and very grateful for that."

Stoner’s surge to his first world title since 2007 wasn’t as easy he might have anticipated, even though closest rival Jorge Lorenzo missed the race with a nasty hand injury he picked up in the warm-up.

Knowing sixth was sufficient to claim the crown following Lorenzo's painful exit, he was cruising to his ninth win of a dominant campaign when rain started to fall with just three laps remaining over the final four corners.

The short but heavy downpour gave Stoner a few nervy moments but he eventually prevailed by over two seconds to spark wild celebrations from a 43,800-strong crowd.

The final stages of the 27-lap race were tricky enough for Stoner though to label his Phillip Island success one of the best of a fantastic season.

He said: "This was probably one of the best because it was hard enough to stay up. I didn’t have to push as hard as what I thought at the beginning of the race and if Jorge were here we’d have had to push a bit more. But when that weather came it was hard for us to know what to do and how to deal with the conditions and how much faster I could go than the others. I nearly came off the track as well. I was pretty lucky to stay on at that point, because I think I was the first person to hit that wall of rain.

"We had that first dark cloud sort of pass over us and then there was a few spits and spats and we were able to sort of keep our advantage there and keep everybody behind us. But when I hit it the second time the rainfall was actually a lot heavier and a lot worse. So I’ve gone into that last turn and as soon as I cracked that throttle again the rear came around and my heart was up my throat. I took it very gingerly for the next laps just to bring it home, because I didn’t really know how much to push. I didn’t have other riders around me to sort of see what’s going on and it makes it very difficult to judge things. I did want to make sure that we went home from here as world champions, but I also didn’t want to give up that race win."

Underlying just what an outstanding season Stoner has put together, he said there has been times when it was disappointing to settle for a podium. Only once has he failed to claim a rostrum and that was when Valentino Rossi wiped him out of a rain-lashed Jerez round at only the second race.

He said: "A bad day this year was third and something we were bitterly disappointed with. For us to be disappointed with third is something special. We’re still happy about it but realising what our potential could be we were still disappointed some times. I’d say Laguna and Brno were the best races because we didn’t have the set-up and didn’t have the perfect ride that weekend and we were a little bit off the pace. But we did something extra for the race to overcome our competitors and they were pretty good races."

Stoner’s success means he will go down in history as the rider to win the first and last championships in the 800cc era.

His 15 podiums in 16 races also ensured that Honda finally won in the 800cc era, with the Japanese factory jubilant after winning its first premier class crown since 2006.

Asked how it felt to restore HRC as the major power in MotoGP again, he added: "I think Dani (Pedrosa) has had the opportunity to get some great results but he’s also been a bit unlucky, so it might have been different if he had not been unlucky. But it does feel special for the fact that Honda has struggled over these last few years and we are able to arrive and take the championship in our first year.

"There was also something special for Ducati to take our championship in the first year with them. So it does feel nice for sure to take the first championship for Ducati in MotoGP and the last one of the 800s for Honda. It has been great season. I don't look back and think about these things too much. I just want to have that nice feeling after we have victories or winning a championship."

source: MCN

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Casey Stoner: An interview with the World Champion

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The 2011 MotoGP World Champion speaks to motogp.com following victory in his home race in Australia, which secured him his second premier class title.

Congratulations Casey, how does it feel to be the 2011 MotoGP World Champion?

“It feels pretty good actually! This is something we’ve been waiting for the last few races, we knew we had a chance to do it here but the possibility of it happening was very slim. Jorge has been so consistent and solid this season and he finally slipped up this morning. It wasn’t a good way to go out, with an injury like he’s got, but it did open the door for us to win the Championship today and we managed to do it, we managed to go out with a win, in my home GP, on my birthday… it’s something really special.”

How special does it feel to do it on home soil?

“It’s definitely something that not too many people are able to do, in their home Grand Prix, and especially on their birthday and to win five in a row all in one day is something very special and I’m sure it will be in our minds for a long time to come.”

This is your second MotoGP World title, with a four-year wait since the last one, how does this one compare to the one from 2007?

“This one definitely feels a lot more special. In 2007 people tried to belittle me a little bit, and sort of take the credit away from me and my team and what we achieved. Since then, especially this year, I think people have really realised what we’ve got, what we’re capable of, and this year we’ve had 11 poles, nine wins so far, and it’s just been a dream season so a big thanks to my team, everybody, and a big thanks to Repsol Honda for giving me this opportunity.”

Is there one moment during the season you’ll look back on as a definitive moment or as a turning point in the Championship?

“I think too many people look at defining moments and turning points. I think the season just progresses as it does and the only turning point is when the Championship is over. I think there has been no real turning point or anything during this season and I don’t find them during any other season, so we’ve just been keeping our heads down and slowly racking up the wins and podiums and that’s got us that points lead that we have now. Coming from so many points down at the beginning of the season is something we’re really happy with, we pulled the points lead back and got it into our own grasp, and from there held it and kept it going until now.”

What has been the sweetest victory for you this season?

“I’d say Laguna Seca was the sweetest victory. Race one in Qatar was fantastic, the first race on the bike, but people seem to consider me as a bit of a Qatar specialist so I think Laguna this year, when we were pretty much down and out of the race and nobody really expected us to be competitive, and we were there, we sat there patiently throughout the race, tried to learn a few tricks and try and ride the bike a little differently. Then when we found our speed we decided to put the hammer down and we managed to come out with the win, so that was by far my best.”

Just talk us through this race here in Australia. You built up a good lead and then the weather started to change, what came into your mind when the rain started coming down?

“At the beginning of the race everything was really good. I think we would have struggled a little bit more if Jorge was still racing in this one, I think he was a lot more competitive in the dry conditions and was riding really well this weekend so we would have maybe had to push a little bit harder at the beginning of the race. We sort of managed that gap and were pulling out a fairly big lead without risking anything so everything felt comfortable and the rain came. When the first part of the rain came I really just managed the gap and tried to keep it exactly the same as it was and we managed to do that, but then the rain came the second time and it was a lot heavier and nearly caught me out so we had to take it very gingerly, very cautious over those next laps but then the track dried out again. Again I wasn’t too sure how hard to push and I just did all that was necessary to bring it home for the win.”

We know from what you’ve said at each GP throughout the season that you have been focusing on each race at a time, but was there one moment in the season where the Championship entered into your consciousness?

“Yes, I think to a certain degree every race it does. It sort of holds you back from pushing that little bit further, and that said I think when things have been an absolute disaster for us we have finished third so we’ve had to deal with that and swallow that, which didn’t taste too good sometimes, but they were our worst days we could possibly have so I think we would accept those positions for Championship points and then move onto the next race and see if we could win the next one.”

What were your expectations coming into the season?

“I think I don’t really have any expectations, I don’t look at the season as a whole, I look at it race by race. If you look at the end of the season you’re only at the beginning, it’s not really the best way to start, so we just took it race by race, tried to build up as many points as we could and at the beginning of the season we lost a lot of points and had to really pull them back so that was our main focus for a while, just going out there and winning as many as we could, take as many points as we could, and then at times when things weren’t right we still had to relinquish positions and settle for positions that we weren’t happy with. But all in all we did a great job this season and managed to hold that Championship lead.”

You seemed very relaxed, calm and focused throughout the season but were there any particular moments where you did start to feel a bit of pressure or anything like that?

“Not too much to be honest. I think the pressure came probably after the Jerez Grand Prix at being so many points down and then we went to Portugal and I struggled, didn’t feel too good in that race and struggled a little bit with a back injury there and pulled ourselves back onto third, but we weren’t too happy with the pace so I think since that moment we just started looking forward and everything was good. Knowing how strong and consistent Dani and Jorge are, we definitely knew it was going to be hard to pull back points and without Dani there a lot of the time this year actually was a lot more difficult to pull back points on Jorge or take any advantage – Dani taking points off him, or Dani taking points off me. It changed the way the Championship flow went. We still managed to come out on top more times than not, and it’s been great for us.”

You grew up as a Mick Doohan fan watching him, how does it feel to emulate him in the same team colours?

“This has been a big dream of mine, to be riding for Repsol Honda, and to follow in Mick’s footsteps and race for this team. In his first year in these colours he won the Championship and the same goes for me. We managed to win Repsol Honda’s 100th Grand Prix this year and it’s just been a fantastic year for us – so many achievements, milestones, and hopefully it continues like this. But we have a lot of hard work again.”

Many factors contribute to winning a World title but are there one or two key aspects you can pick out about this season of what has worked so well to help you claim the title?

“I think the two things are not to think too far ahead, or too far sideways. You just have to look at what you have achieved on the day or on that weekend, you can set your goals high but not set your steps too far forward so that’s what we’ve done this year and just taken it step by step and we have managed to get there.”

Your birthday and the World Championship on the same day. How are you going to celebrate that tonight?

“We’ve had my birthday around this time every year since 2001 so I’m pretty used to my birthday being around this stage of the season. But to win it all, the Championship, five in a row here, on my birthday, home Grand Prix, it doesn’t get a lot better than that so I’m sure we’ll enjoy it tonight!”

source: motogp official

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Stoner secures MotoGP title with fifth home win

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Casey Stoner wins the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island and is crowned 2011 world champion.

Casey Stoner won the 2011 MotoGP World Championship in fairytale style, by taking his fifth consecutive home win - on his 26th birthday - at Philip Island in Australia on Sunday. 

Stoner needed to score ten points more than reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo to clinch the crown and had labelled his home title chances as "almost none" coming into the event. 

Lorenzo looked more than capable of a podium finish, but that all changed when Yamaha's 2010 world champion was ruled out of the race due to a finger injury on his left hand in morning warm-up. 

That left Stoner needing only a top six finish, a task made even easier when Ben Spies was also ruled out of action a few hours after his team-mate. Spies had struggled for concentration following a knock to the head in a fast Saturday qualifying crash. 

As he had threatened to do all weekend, Stoner simply flattened the opposition in the race, making his RC212V dance around the fast seaside circuit. 

The only threat to Stoner's victory was the quick-changing Phillip Island weather, with odd spots of rain prompting white flags (meaning bike swaps were now possible) after 10 of the 27 laps. 

The spots didn't develop into anything more until just four laps to go - when a heavy downpour arrived at the final turn. 

The rest of the track remained dry and most chose to stay on slicks, but it was tense stuff as Stoner rode through the rain to claim his ninth victory of the season by 2.210sec, having surrendered large chunks of his previous lead to battling Italians Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Dovizioso. 

Simoncelli and Dovizioso were already battling before the rain shower, which Dovizioso capitalised upon to retake second. However a last lap lunge by Simoncelli gave the Gresini rider his best ever MotoGP finish by just 0.244sec over Dovizioso. Sunday marked the second time Simoncelli has stood on a premier-class podium. 

Dovizioso's team-mate Dani Pedrosa had also been a podium contender in the dry, but lost almost ten seconds when the rain arrived, although he was able to comfortably keep fourth. 

Nicky Hayden ran second to Stoner in the early stages, before being shuffled back to sixth by lap ten. The Ducati rider was still in that position when the rain arrived, when he made an ill-fate gamble to pit for his wet weather bike, which cost him a position to fellow American Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). 

Hayden would have lost two places - Pramac Ducati's Randy de Puniet also moved ahead when he pitted - had Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista not crashed. 

The withdraw of Lorenzo put Bautista - already due to make a MotoGP best start of fourth on the grid - into a front row place. The Spaniard held fifth on lap one, was demoted by Pedrosa, then regained fifth by passing a fading Hayden on lap 10. 

Hayden's factory Ducati team-mate Valentino Rossi then became a bigger threat, but the Italian crashed out when he attempted an inside pass on Bautista into the off-camber MG hairpin on lap 14. 

Bautista thus looked set for a safe fifth until he was caught out by the rain. Hiroshi Aoyama (Gresini) and Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3) - who had been eighth and ninth - fell on the same lap. 

All of which meant that LCR's Toni Elias, Pramac's Loris Capirossi, returning to action after another shoulder dislocation, and Karel Abraham (Cardion AB) were the final finishers in eighth, ninth and tenth. Elias and Capirossi were one lap down, with Abraham - who fell - two laps behind. 

Only 14 riders began the race, with Australian Damian Cudlin, due to make his second MotoGP appearance in as many events - this time for Aspar Ducati - joining the Yamahas riders on the sidelines due to injuries from a huge Saturday morning highside. 

source: crash

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Casey Stoner wins 2011 MotoGP title

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Casey Stoner has won his second MotoGP title, in front of his home fans and on his 26th birthday, with his fifth consecutive victory at Phillip Island in Australia.

Stoner, who needed only a top six finish following the last-minute withdraw of Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo due to a nasty finger injury in warm-up, suffered a late scare when a rain shower descended on the circuit.

But Stoner held his nerve to win by 2.210sec over Marco Simoncelli and become Honda's first MotoGP champion since Nicky Hayden in 2006.

Stoner's victory also handed Honda the 2011 MotoGP Constructors' title, with two rounds still remaining.

After joining MotoGP with LCR Honda in 2006, Stoner switched to the factory Ducati team the following year - with instant title success.

Stoner won 23 times for the Italian factory between 2007-2010, before joining Repsol Honda this season. The Australian has won 9 of the 16 rounds so far.

source: crash

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A Champion in profile: Casey Stoner

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Casey Stoner’s second MotoGP title could not have been achieved in more fitting circumstances, after the Repsol Honda rider secured the 2011 crown on the day of his 26th birthday and at his home race, the Iveco Australian Grand Prix.

The first and only Honda rider to win the MotoGP title in the 800cc era – this year being the last of the engine capacity before an increase to a 1000cc limit in 2012 – Stoner adds to his 2007 title which came in Ducati colours. In taking the 2011 crown Stoner also becomes only the fifth rider to have won premier class titles with two different manufacturers, the others being Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi, Geoff Duke and Eddie Lawson.

Big things were heralded for Stoner when, as a 15 year-old, he made his World Championship debut as a 125cc wildcard at Donington Park in 2001. Having graduated through the same academy system that also produced his future factory Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa, Stoner fully capitalised on the bold move made by his family of moving to Europe to further his fledgling career.

A full time Grand Prix career started in the 250cc category under Lucio Cecchinello’s guidance in 2002, but it was a step down to the 125cc class the following season that saw Stoner’s talent begin to fully flourish with four podiums and a first victory in the final round of the campaign. In 2004 he challenged for the title, taking KTM’s first ever Grand Prix win and ending the season fifth overall.

A step back up to 250s with Cecchinello’s team in 2005 produced a thrilling battle with Pedrosa for the title as Stoner amassed five wins on the Aprilia, and the next year he and the LCR team debuted in the premier MotoGP class on board a Honda as the Australian displayed flashes of brilliance – which included a pole position in only his second race at Qatar and second place in Turkey – mixed with a few disappointing crashes, all part of the learning experience. He had shown enough to encourage Ducati to make an offer to ride on their factory team the next season, and what followed was a stunning campaign.

A maiden MotoGP victory in the first race of 2007 at Qatar was a self-confessed surprise for both rider and team, but once he followed this up with wins at Turkey and China a title challenge became a more than realistic target. His standout performance at Catalunya, where he battled toe-to-toe with five-time champion Valentino Rossi will go down as one of the great races in history, whilst he dominated the mid-season with pole-to-flag victories at three consecutive races at Laguna Seca, Brno and Misano. Stoner went on to secure the title with four rounds to spare, and ended 2007 with a total of 10 wins, 14 podiums and 5 poles.

Defending his title in 2008, Stoner fought rival Rossi intensely as the pair crossed swords on a number of occasions, their duel at Laguna Seca still being talked about as one of the greatest battles of recent years, and the Australian eventually ended the season runner-up to his Italian adversary despite taking 6 wins and 9 poles in a strong second campaign on the Desmosedici.

2009 did not run a smooth course for Stoner, a mid-season three-race break due to fatigue uncovered a lactose intolerance that had affected his physical condition on the bike, and he ended the season 4th overall in the standings. 2010 was to prove not much easier as he took only three wins – all in the final third of the season – on an increasingly hard to tame Desmosedici. By that stage it had already been announced that Stoner would ride for the factory Repsol Honda team in 2011.

The switch has proved a resounding success as the 2007 World Champion displayed the same kind of dominant form that delivered him his first title four years earlier. Pole position and victory in the opening round in Qatar was a sign of things to come, and by the time Stoner won the race in Phillip Island to clinch the title with two more rounds to spare he had already taken nine victories. Added to that race success has been an incredible consistency, which has seen him finish off the podium just once – in the second round at Jerez where he crashed out through no fault of his own.

Winning his home race in Australia for a fifth consecutive season handed Stoner not only his second World title, but his 32nd career MotoGP victory, as he took victory from another pole position – his 11th of the season; this represents a new record for the most poles in one season in the MotoGP four-stroke era.

Some facts about Casey Stoner’s achievement

- Casey Stoner is the first Honda rider to win the MotoGP title during the 800cc era of MotoGP.

- Stoner last won the MotoGP championship in 2007 and in winning the title this year becomes the first rider to regain the premier class world title after a three year gap.

- He has been on pole 11 times during 2011, which is a new record for most poles in one season in the MotoGP four-stroke era.

- He becomes only the fifth rider to win the premier class title on motorcycles from two different manufacturers. The other riders to have done this are Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi, Geoff Duke and Eddie Lawson.

- Casey Stoner has 32 career victories in MotoGP, placing him fifth in the all-time premier-class Grand Prix winners list, after Valentino Rossi, Giacomo Agostini, Mick Doohan and Mike Hailwood.

source: motogp official

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