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NEWS
Casey Stoner to retire!
The Australian has dropped a bombshell, announcing this year's MotoGP season will be his last as he looks to do other things -- could V8 Supercars be one of them?In typical no-nonsense fashion, Australia’s Casey Stoner has stunned the MotoGP paddock by announcing 2012 will be his last. Mick Doohan, you’re safe for now.
The Repsol Honda rider addressed the media – of which he’s enjoyed a prickly relationship with over the years -- at the start of the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, making a short statement in which he outlined the reasons behind his decision, which apparently is the culmination of him falling out of love with MotoGP racing.
“After a long time thinking, a lot of time talking with my family and my wife, this has been coming for a couple of years now but at the end of this 2012 season I will be not racing in the 2013 championship,” he said. “I will be finishing my career at the end of this season in MotoGP, and go forward in different things in my life.
“After so many years of doing this sport which I love, and which myself and my family made so many sacrifices for, after so many years of trying to get to where we have gotten to at this point, this sport has changed a lot and it has changed to the point where I am not enjoying it. I don't have the passion for it and so at this time it’s better if I retire now.
“There are a lot of things that have disappointed me, and also a lot of things I have loved about this sport, but unfortunately the balance has gone in the wrong direction. And so, basically, we won't be continuing any more. It would be nice if I could say I would stay one more year, but then where does it stop? So we decided to finish everything as we are now.”
Stoner made his GP debut as a wildcard at Donington 2001, and competed in the 125cc and 250cc ranks until he became a satellite MotoGP rider in 2006 on a Honda.
But the biggest break was signing with Ducati in 2007, where he went onto win his first world title, which he added to last year in his first season as a factory Honda rider.
Understandably, Stoner’s greatest adversaries have been shocked by the decision, including Valentino Rossi.
“It is a big surprise for me but also for everybody,” Rossi said. “It is bad news for the MotoGP world because at the end of the season we will lose one great rider and one great rival. It is negative but it is his own decision."
And Jorge Lorenzo responded with this: “I think it is a surprise for me and for everyone and I didn’t expect it. I heard the rumours and while it was a possibility I thought Casey would continue riding next year. This decision is not good news for MotoGP but his decision is to live quietly with his family and we must respect this.”
So where to now for Stoner, who became a father for the first time in February this year with wife Adriana?
Number one will probably be a permanent move back to a quieter life in Australia from his current base in Switzerland, and rumours are already swirling that he’ll be looking for a seat in V8 Supercars, which would be a huge publicity coup for the touring car championship. And Stoner’s only 26 years old, so he’s definitely got time – and talent gauging by a V8 Supercar test last year – to make a real fist of it.
But who knows, as Stoner’s never been one to be dictated to – he does things his own way, and over the past six-and-a-bit MotoGP seasons that’s been good enough for 35 victories, way more than anyone else.
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Written byBikesales Staff
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