Casey Stoner

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Casey Stoner
MotoGP Record
Nationality	Australian
Nicknames
Bike #	27
Current team	Ducati Marlboro Team
World Championships	0
Race Starts	78
Race Wins	8
Podium finishes	22
Pole positions	5
Fastest laps	5
Championship Points	751
2007 Championship position	2nd (36 pts)

Casey Stoner (b. 16 October 1985) is a motorcycle racer originally from Kurri Kurri in New South Wales, Australia. He currently competes in the MotoGP class for the Ducati Marlboro team.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 125cc 1.2 250cc 1.3 MotoGP 2 Personal life 3 References 4 External Links

[edit] Biography

Having won a number of dirtbike titles in Australia, Stoner's family moved him to England at a young age to further his racing career. He contested the national 125cc GP championships in Britain and Spain before moving full-time to the 250cc GP World Championships in 2002. His season on an Aprilia under the guidance of Lucio Ceccinello was turbulent, with no podium places from 15 race starts.

[edit] 125cc

In 2003 Stoner moved to the 125cc GP category. Here, working again with Ceccinello and Aprilia, he met with considerable success, scoring his first GP race win and three second places, finishing 8th overall at the season's end.

In 2004 Stoner joined the Red Bull KTM factory team in 125cc class and continued to improve, with another race win, two second places, three thirds, and a final championship position of fifth.

[edit] 250cc

In 2005 he rejoined the 250cc world championship class, racing once again for Lucio Ceccinello on an Aprilia. Onboard a factory Aprilia, Stoner 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 claim a solid second place in the overall championship standings, with an impressive five race victories for the season.

[edit] MotoGP

Stoner was rumoured to be considering a position with Yamaha^[1], but eventually settled on an alliance once more with team manager Lucio Ceccinello on a Honda RC211V, on a one-bike team new to the series for the 2006 Season. He finished his debut season in 8th position with his best result being a 2nd place at the Turkish GP, where he was overtaken on the final corner by factory Honda rider Marco Melandri.

Stoner secured a ride with the factory Ducati team for the 2007 season^[2], joining Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7, replacing Spanish rider Sete Gibernau, who, ironically was knocked off his bike by the young Australian at the penultimate race of the 2006 season in Estoril. As a result of the injuries sustained in the fall, Sete could not ride again for Ducati at the season finale in Valencia.

On March 10, 2007, at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, Stoner won the first grand prix of the season, the first ever 800cc grand prix, and had his first win in the MotoGP class^[3]. Starting 2nd on the grid, Stoner was in a race-long battle with multiple champion Valentino Rossi - the Yamaha had the advantage in the corners, but Stoner's Ducati had too substantial a speed advantage on the circuit's 1 kilometre straight^[4].

[edit] Personal life

Stoner met Adriana Tuchyna (born Adelaide) when she approached him at Philip Island in 2003 and got him to sign his autograph on her stomach^[5]. They started dating in 2005 when she turned 16^[6], and married in January 2007^[7].

[edit] References

[edit] External Links

• Stoner's personal website