After retiring as a racing rider at the end of 2012, Casey Stoner still remained with Honda as a test rider. The truth is that during his time from 2013 to 2015 he rarely went out on track on the RC213V, and he believes that the rider who replaced him - Marc Márquez - felt threatened. To Motosprint, the former rider spoke of his experience as a test rider for the japanese manufacturer, feeling undervalued and feared by Marquez: 'At Honda I was only an occasional test rider, I had no other position and, to tell you the truth, they never fully exploited my potential. I think Marquez and his whole group felt threatened by me. I don't know why they thought that, but that's my feeling'. Stoner emphasised that his mission at Honda as a test rider was to help Marquez, but also acknowledged that the main rider of a team is the benchmark: 'I was at Honda to do some tests, to test new things that could then be transferred to the factory riders, so I was there to help Marc. But it is also true that the number one rider is the one that everybody has to follow'. Some race that would have been!!
Imagine peak Vale, Casey, Jorge on the track with Marc. Wow. Carnage (as long as Jorge was interuppted and not allowed to clear off)
Which bikes would they be on though cos we know Vale would terror Jorge on the Yamaha but Casey would destroy him on the Ducati and which year Honda does 93 get to ride?
Whatever he says now he gave up moto gp because he couldn’t handle the microphones, he said it himself at the time however far progressed his illness was at the time and I’ll never get my head round that. All the sacrifice his parents, family etc put in and he dropped it like a hot knife as soon as the going got a bit tough. Compare and contrast with 93 (who can also be a massive twat at times).
For someone who only won the world championship twice across all levels, Stoner has a very high opinion of himself. Marquez - 8 times World Champion Rossi - 9 times World Champion Lorenzo - 5 times World Champion. I think i know which of those riders i would listen too first and none of them are Stoner.
Maybe it’s an Aussie thing, Doohan didn’t have much time for the media circus either and you may say it goes with the job but it doesn’t when they started racing. We don’t know what went on behind the garage doors, how the team treat the riders, what they expect from them etc, I know Stoner moaned at other riders but wasn’t it generally when they did something dangerous, maybe he appreciated and respected the dangers more than others, something MM has now found out to his detriment? I can understand what he’s saying though, as a test rider he would have been blisteringly quick, and no No.1 rider wants their team mate let alone the test rider being as quick or quicker than them, otherwise the factory might say “well he can ride it fast, why can’t you?”
same media commitments as any other rider including his team mate and it was 46 he always had a moan about being dangerous same as vale did with Marc etc.. it’s why we love the drama Casey didn’t want to be in the limelight at the end of the day.
dear lord he could ride that dewcatee like no one else tho (see most years at Phillip island as an example)
Different things happen in different years, but your point is undeniable. World champion 5 times -or more- is really special.
OK,stoner never had th e back up of the others but he won on a bike nobody else could ,even vale,or lorenzo.
Nope you've got the list in the incorrect order, the most wins at the top then filtering down....that's all.
Vale and Lorenzo won on a bike that Stoner never did too. Stoner was an amazing talent on a bike but he was never a winner in the way the other three were.
Stoner did what Lorenzo and Marquez haven’t (nor ever will) and that was to win the MotoGP championship for 2 different manufacturers. That has only been done by a very select few. Andy
