Casey Stoner doesn't know the meaning of take it easy. In the world of MotoGP where every millisecond counts Stoner is known as the man who is always at full throttle. After winning five races and challenging Dani Pedrosa for the 250cc title in 2006 he made the jump to MotoGP with the LCR satellite Honda team. He showed promise with a pole at the second race of the season, but his hard charging style led to a series of accidents that gained him a reputation as a crasher. He finished eighth in the 2006 championship, and his rookie season in the top class impressed Ducati officials enough for them to offer him a ride alongside Loris Capirossi on the factory team.
Stoner repaid Ducati's faith in him by taking five of the first eight races of the 2007 season, and lost his crasher label along the way. Many attributed his winning ways and maturity to getting married in the off season, but more than likely it was the combination of talent, a fast bike and Bridgestone tires with good front end grip. Stoner and the Ducati seemed to be a perfect match, but Capirossi struggled to one podium in the first nine races on the other factory Ducati. The Italian became the first of several Ducati riders who were unable to match the pace of Stoner. Stoner went on to win ten races and the championship by 125 points over Dani Pedrosa.
When Stoner won the 2007 MotoGP title he became the champion of a series that had been the personal playground of Valentino Rossi. The Italian's run of five straight championships had been interrupted by the Nicky Hayden's consistent run to the title the previous season. Rossi's post-race theatrics and Hayden's easygoing personality were in stark contrast to Stoner's hard driving, no-nonsense style. When Rossi won championships he dominated the competition, but he kept the racing close and often let other riders lead until the closing laps of a race when he took the lead to win. Stoner's style was to dominate the competition and win by a wide margin. Rossi's playful personality was a public relations dream while Stoner's all-business persona didn't always sit well with some members of the media and Rossi fans.
In spite of his incredible season on the Ducati there were many who claimed that it was the bike and not Stoner's talent that led to title. Hard to believe when Capirossi only had one win and finished seventh in the championship on the same bike. Stoner followed up his championship winning season with six wins, but finished second to Rossi who took the 2008 title with nine wins. Marco Melandri was a consistent backmarker on the second factory Ducati while Toni Elias and Sylvain Guintoli finished twelfth and thirteenth on the satellite Ducati team.
Fast forward to 2009 and order has finally been restored to the MotoGP championship for the legions of Rossi fans now that their man is back on top. The predictions of a continuation of the Ross-Stoner title fight looked on target after Stoner beat Rossi in the first race at Qatar, but when Jorge Lorenzo took two of the next three races a new contender was thrown into the mix. Lorenzo is a character in the mold of Rossi. A proven winner who celebrates his wins with flair, but a first year MotoGP crasher like Stoner. Lorenzo is Rossi's teammate and his success led to the erection of a wall in the garage the two riders share, but even though he's challenging Rossi he's becoming a fan favorite.
Stoner managed to win two of the first five races, but midway through the season he began to suffer from an energy sapping ailment that saw him fading as the race progressed. Stoner eventually came to the decision that he needed to stop racing to get well. An unusual decision in a sport where riders routinely ride the beast that is a MotoGP bike with broken bones and other injuries. Never a man of many words Stoner headed home and began a reclusive recovery away from the track and the media.
The Casey criticism and the theories about the true nature of the ailment began as soon as his departure was announced. How can he do this, he's not really sick, he can't take the pressure, he's too high strung and just another victim of Rossi's mental games. But it wasn't just the media. The head of Marlboro (his sponsor) and former world champions Kevin Schwantz and Wayne Gardner weighed in on the Stoner sabbatical, and Ducati tried to persuade Lorenzo to ride for them in 2010 in case Stoner was unable to recover.
Well he's back now, and it's like he never left. Following a solid second in his first race back at Portugal, Stoner put in a flawless performance at his home grand prix ahead of the man some said had gotten into his head. He's still not certain that he's put the mystery illness behind him, but he hasn't had any symptoms since his return. Remarkably, he is third in the championship ahead of Dani Pedrosa.
In a politically correct world where your personality and how you relate to the media directly influence how you are judged and perceived, sports figures with a no nonsense attitude like Stoner don't always get the credit they deserve. When he finished second in his first race back he said that he was glad to silence the critics so the negative comments clearly bother him. If Stoner is able to put his illness behind him he should be back at the front challenging for wins next year. At 24 he’s a young man in a young man's sport so he has more than enough time to win another championship, and that may be what he has to do to get the respect that he deserves.
The World Superbike teams returned to the track for the second official test since the season ending round at Portimao. This time the teams were in sunny Valencia for two days of testing on Wednesday and Thursday. Absent from the test were BMW (T. Corser, R. Xaus), Ducati (N. Haga, M. Fabrizio), Althea Ducati (C. Checa, S. Byrne) and Kawasaki (C. Vermulen, T. Sykes).
