Casey Stoner in the record books

With eight races left in MotoGP before he retires we take a look at the records the current world champion holds -- ones that can or can't be taken away from him

Australia’s Casey Stoner has already amassed a big list of achievements in his relatively short career.

With eight races left in his professional career, and a possible eight victories to take, he may not be capable of breaking any more outright records, but he can propel himself up the rankings quite significantly.

After Laguna Seca’s last round of the MotoGP title, Stoner now has a total of 44 victories in grand prix racing, of which 37 have been in the premier class. If he was to take eight victories before the end of the season he could equal Phil Read with 52 and be sixth in the all-time GP victories ranking.

This statistic could read even better in terms of premier-class standings as he could sit fourth with 45 behind Mick Doohan, who recorded a total of 54.

Below is a list of Stoner’s records that can’t be broken:

2007/Catalunya/Barcelona: With a win in Catalunya, Stoner became the first rider to win four times in one season on a Ducati
2007/USA/Laguna Seca: Wins from pole and tops all four practice sessions to become the first non-American rider to win at Laguna Seca in the MotoGP era
2007/Japan/Motegi: Stoner became the first rider to win the MotoGP title on a Ducati
2008/Qatar/Losail: Won the first ever MotoGP race to take place at night under floodlights
2009/Italy/Mugello: Gave Ducati its first ever premier-class win at the Italian Grand Prix
2010/Spain/Aragón: Won the first MotoGP race to be held at the new Aragón circuit
2011/USA/Laguna Seca: Won for the fifth time in 2011 – the highest number of wins by a Honda rider during the 800cc era of MotoGP. He went on to record 10 victories in total that season.

Below is a list Stoner’s records that can be broken:

2006/Turkey/Istanbul: Finished on the podium in his third MotoGP start to become the youngest Australian rider to finish on the podium in the premier-class
2007/Qatar/Losail: Won in his first race for Ducati to become the youngest Australian to win in the premier-class and also the first Australian rider to win in 125cc, 250cc and premier class
2008/San Marino/Misano: Qualified on pole for the seventh successive race – the longest sequence of successive poles in the MotoGP era to date
2011/Japan/Motegi: Started on pole for the 10th time in 2011 – a new record for most pole positions in a season during the MotoGP era.

Stoner’s near-record performances:

2006/Qatar/Losail: Qualified on pole in just his second start in MotoGP to become the second youngest rider of all-time to start from pole in the premier-class; the only rider to start from pole at a younger age is Freddie Spencer
2007/San Marino/Misano: Won three successive races for the first time and is the first to do so on a European-manufactured bike (Ducati) since Giacomo Agostini in 1972.

Others who retired young

Stoner, who will be 27 years old when he leaves MotoGP after the Valencia round in November, may be considered one of the youngest successful riders to retire. This is certainly true for the modern-day era; however there were some other prominent names that had similar ideas a long time ago.

Gary Hocking: Won the 500cc and 350cc titles in 1961 and then retired after the Isle of Man TT in 1962 after his good friend Tom Phillis was killed. Hocking was just 24 when he retired
John Surtees: He had seven world titles to his name when he retired at the end of 1960 (four x 500cc and three x 350cc). He was just 26 when he retired. He went on to become the first person to win both the 500cc world title and the F1 car racing title
Mike Hailwood: Had nine titles to his name when he retired at the end of 1967, including four 500cc titles. He was 27 when he retired.

Read the latest Bikesales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at the Bikesales Network's mobile site. Or download the all-new App.

Casey Stoner in the record books

Tags