Casey Stoner

His worst finish was a 6th place at Motegi, which was all he needed to clinch the title that day, taking the first premier class title for an Italian or a non-Japanese manufacturer since Phil Read's title for MV Agusta in 1974.

Casey Joel Stoner (born 16 October 1985) is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer, and a two-time MotoGP World Champion, in and.

During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the factory teams of Ducati and Honda, winning a title for each team.

Born in Southport, Queensland, Stoner raced from a young age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a racing career.

From 2000 to 2002, Stoner contested the national 125cc GP championships in Britain and Spain, winning the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000, before moving full-time to the 250cc GP World Championships in 2002.

His season on an Aprilia under the guidance of Lucio Cecchinello was turbulent, with no podium places from 15 race starts.

After first competing internationally in 2002, Stoner became MotoGP World Champion in 2007 for Ducati.

One of Stoner's greatest talents was his ability to ride any motorcycle beyond its perceived limits, even winning races on the inferior Ducati after both Honda and Yamaha had forged ahead in development during his later racing years.

In 2005, Stoner rejoined the 250cc world championship class, racing once again for Lucio Cecchinello's team on a works Aprilia.

He emerged toward the season's end as a serious threat to championship leader Dani Pedrosa; a threat that only dissipated with a crash at Stoner's home Grand Prix of Phillip Island, allowing Pedrosa to establish an insurmountable points lead.

Stoner went on to claim a solid second place in the overall championship standings, with an impressive five race victories for the season.

In October 2005, Stoner, along with Lucio Cecchinello's team, reportedly had an agreement to move to the MotoGP class in the upcoming season with support from Yamaha.

After the season ended, he received an offer from the Honda Pons team and tested the Honda RC211V bike with them at Valencia.

However, in December 2005, Stoner re-signed with Cecchinello's team after Honda Pons failed to secure sponsorship for the upcoming season.

The team then made an agreement with LCR Honda to run the RC211V for Stoner in 2006.

As a rookie satellite rider, Stoner took the pole position in just his second MotoGP race, but crashed several times during the season.

He finished in 8th position in the championship, with his best result being a second place at the Turkish Grand Prix.

He was leading the race until he was overtaken on the final corner by Marco Melandri.

Stoner's 2007 title remained Ducati's only rider's championship until Francesco Bagnaia’s win in the premier class in 2022.

Stoner was also the winner of his home Grand Prix of Australia on six consecutive occasions between 2007 and 2012.

Due to a crash during practice at Indianapolis, Stoner missed several races due to injury, curtailing his championship challenge for his last season.

He rounded off his MotoGP career with a remarkable sixth consecutive win in his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island and with a podium in his final race.

Stoner secured a ride with the Factory Ducati Team for the 2007 season, joining Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7.

Stoner started off his Ducati career on a high note with a first premier-class win in the Qatar opener, after a tense battle with Valentino Rossi.

Stoner took ten race wins and six pole positions (including winning three of the first four ), took him to his first GP title, by a margin of 125 points (equivalent to five victories) over Dani Pedrosa, which he built during the second half of the season.

Stoner was named Young Australian of the Year for his 2007 performance.

During 2008 and 2009 Stoner remained a strong contender, winning multiple races, but not being able to consistently challenge Valentino Rossi and Yamaha for the title during those seasons.

In 2008, Stoner took the #1 decal on his bike.

Stoner opened the 2008 season with a victory at Qatar, before a run of two races without a podium.

He returned to the podium with a second place at Mugello, before starting a run of seven successive pole positions.

He turned three of them into successive victories—a lights-to-flag win at Donington, leading every lap at Assen six days later, and recovering from a huge Friday crash at Sachsenring to win in the wet after Dani Pedrosa crashed, moving to within 20 points of the championship lead.

However, successive crashes while fighting for the lead at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (where he remounted to finish second to Valentino Rossi), Brno and Misano ensured that he could not defend the title successfully.

Stoner had a strong start to the 2009 season but had to miss three races due to chronic fatigue.

In 2010, Ducati failed to challenge Yamaha and Honda until very late in the season, when Stoner went out on a winning note, winning three races.

After his departure from Ducati to Honda following the 2010 season, Stoner won a second world championship title in 2011 for Repsol Honda.

The championship was won in a dominant fashion with ten Grand Prix wins and sealed by winning his home race with two races remaining.

Prior to the 2012 French Grand Prix, Stoner announced that he would retire from Grand Prix racing at the conclusion of the season.

On 27 March 2015, HRC announced that Stoner would return to competition in a one-off ride in the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours.

Stoner crashed out of the race due to a stuck throttle, and Honda apologised to Stoner over the technical failure that caused him to injure his ankle and shoulder.

Stoner served as a test and development rider for former team Ducati from 2016 to 2018.