The Formative Early Years
16 October 1985 - Casey Stoner is born.
Four Years Old - Casey competes in his first race in the under 9s category at Mike Hatcher Raceway on the Gold Coast (my city)
Six Years Old - Casey won his first Australian dirt track title.
Twelve Years Old - Casey raced in the Australian Long Track Titles in 5 different categories. A total of 35 races over the one weekend which he won 32 out of and took five out of five Australian titles!
Fourteen Years Old - Casey and his parents decided to move overseas to England to start his road racing career as he could not legally start road racing in Australia until he was 16 years old. It was a bold move, but it paid off obviously. He took out the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in his first year of road racing!
Fifteen Years Old - Casey raced in both the Spanish and the English 125cc championships in the same year. Despite missing some English rounds he still managed a second place in both championships. The same year, he was granted wild card entries into the English and Australian Grand Prix in the World Championships. He placed 18th and 12th in them which was enough to be offered a full time ride in the 250cc World Championships the next year for the LCR team.
Sixteen Years Old - Casey showed some talent on the world stage in his debut year. I remember watching these races myself and being impressed by this young Aussie. I knew back then that he had the right stuff to go all the way. He was very fast, he just needed to stop crashing. His best result that year was a 5th place.
Seventeen Years Old - Casey went back to the 125cc GP series with the LCR team and took four podium finishes and his first race win at the final race of the season. His first win in a GP race was a massive turning point for Casey and his career.
Eighteen Years Old - Casey changed to the to KTM team for a season where he helped to develop the125 KTM into a winning bike. That year he grabbed six podiums and took KTM's first ever win in a Grand Prix class.
Nineteen Years Old - Casey moved back to the LCR team but this time moved back up to the 250cc class. He spent 2005 battling with Dani Pedrosa for the championship, and with ten podiums including five wins, he had hit the big time!
Casey's Previous MotoGP Years
2006 - Honda - 8th in the championship
Casey moved up to the elite class of MotoGP in 2006 upon a privateer Honda run by the LCR team. He set pole position in just his second MotoGP race in Qatar and battled for the win until the final corner in the Turkisk Grand Prix where he finished second to Marco Melandri by a very small margin. He showed a lot of promise in his debut season, but also had a lot of crashes which hurt his championship standing at the end of the season. Still, it was a good debut season for Casey which earned him a factory ride the next year with Ducati.
2007 - Ducati - 1st in the championship
Casey won the first GP of the season which was his first win in the MotoGP class. Stoner then took another nine wins, four further podium finishes and scored five pole positions. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Stoner secured Ducati's first MotoGP World Championship becoming the second youngest premier-class World Champion! I was at the Phillip Island Grand Prix the following week to see him win again, his first victory as a World Champion!
2008 - Ducati - 2nd in the championship
Casey started off the year with another victory in Qatar and went well for most of the year before succumbing to a fractured scaphoid bone in his wrist later in the season. He battled with the injury for the last few races, starting races well , but fading toward the end as the pain took over. He had surgery on it immediately following the season. Stoner finished the 2008 season as runner up to the title behind Valentino Rossi with the highest ever points score ever gained without taking the title.
2009 - Ducati - 4th in the championship
2009 started out well for Casey but unfortunately, he is hindered by a physical condition that forces him out of three mid-season races. It is a very difficult decision for Stoner, which eliminates his chance of winning the title but he returned for the Portuguese GP in October, back in shape and ready for action. Stoner got onto the podium at the next race at Estoril and then won the next two races in Australia and Malaysia.
2010- Ducati - 4th in the championship
Stoner qualified on pole once again for the season opener in Qatar and was leading the race until he crashed out. His worst performance at a track that he usually dominates. He then struggled for the next few races on a bike that was proving difficult to ride. His first podium for the year came in the 6th round and his first win did not come until the 13th race of the year.
2011 In Review
16 October 1985 - Casey Stoner is born.
Four Years Old - Casey competes in his first race in the under 9s category at Mike Hatcher Raceway on the Gold Coast (my city)
Six Years Old - Casey won his first Australian dirt track title.
Twelve Years Old - Casey raced in the Australian Long Track Titles in 5 different categories. A total of 35 races over the one weekend which he won 32 out of and took five out of five Australian titles!
Fourteen Years Old - Casey and his parents decided to move overseas to England to start his road racing career as he could not legally start road racing in Australia until he was 16 years old. It was a bold move, but it paid off obviously. He took out the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in his first year of road racing!
Fifteen Years Old - Casey raced in both the Spanish and the English 125cc championships in the same year. Despite missing some English rounds he still managed a second place in both championships. The same year, he was granted wild card entries into the English and Australian Grand Prix in the World Championships. He placed 18th and 12th in them which was enough to be offered a full time ride in the 250cc World Championships the next year for the LCR team.
Sixteen Years Old - Casey showed some talent on the world stage in his debut year. I remember watching these races myself and being impressed by this young Aussie. I knew back then that he had the right stuff to go all the way. He was very fast, he just needed to stop crashing. His best result that year was a 5th place.
Seventeen Years Old - Casey went back to the 125cc GP series with the LCR team and took four podium finishes and his first race win at the final race of the season. His first win in a GP race was a massive turning point for Casey and his career.
Eighteen Years Old - Casey changed to the to KTM team for a season where he helped to develop the125 KTM into a winning bike. That year he grabbed six podiums and took KTM's first ever win in a Grand Prix class.
Nineteen Years Old - Casey moved back to the LCR team but this time moved back up to the 250cc class. He spent 2005 battling with Dani Pedrosa for the championship, and with ten podiums including five wins, he had hit the big time!
Casey's Previous MotoGP Years
2006 - Honda - 8th in the championship
Casey moved up to the elite class of MotoGP in 2006 upon a privateer Honda run by the LCR team. He set pole position in just his second MotoGP race in Qatar and battled for the win until the final corner in the Turkisk Grand Prix where he finished second to Marco Melandri by a very small margin. He showed a lot of promise in his debut season, but also had a lot of crashes which hurt his championship standing at the end of the season. Still, it was a good debut season for Casey which earned him a factory ride the next year with Ducati.
2007 - Ducati - 1st in the championship
Casey won the first GP of the season which was his first win in the MotoGP class. Stoner then took another nine wins, four further podium finishes and scored five pole positions. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Stoner secured Ducati's first MotoGP World Championship becoming the second youngest premier-class World Champion! I was at the Phillip Island Grand Prix the following week to see him win again, his first victory as a World Champion!
2008 - Ducati - 2nd in the championship
Casey started off the year with another victory in Qatar and went well for most of the year before succumbing to a fractured scaphoid bone in his wrist later in the season. He battled with the injury for the last few races, starting races well , but fading toward the end as the pain took over. He had surgery on it immediately following the season. Stoner finished the 2008 season as runner up to the title behind Valentino Rossi with the highest ever points score ever gained without taking the title.
2009 - Ducati - 4th in the championship
2009 started out well for Casey but unfortunately, he is hindered by a physical condition that forces him out of three mid-season races. It is a very difficult decision for Stoner, which eliminates his chance of winning the title but he returned for the Portuguese GP in October, back in shape and ready for action. Stoner got onto the podium at the next race at Estoril and then won the next two races in Australia and Malaysia.
2010- Ducati - 4th in the championship
Stoner qualified on pole once again for the season opener in Qatar and was leading the race until he crashed out. His worst performance at a track that he usually dominates. He then struggled for the next few races on a bike that was proving difficult to ride. His first podium for the year came in the 6th round and his first win did not come until the 13th race of the year.
2011 In Review
