Stoner: “People didn’t believe in my talent”

“People didn’t believe in my talent,” Stoner says. Ahead of MotoGP’s last event at Phillip Island, the former rider is revisiting a victory and a title that made the circuit especially memorable for him, as well as the criticism he says he faced for a long time.

This weekend, the MotoGP World Championship will visit Phillip Island for the final time for the Australian Grand Prix, before moving to the street circuit being built in Adelaide. Casey Stoner wants racing to continue at the venue. “I’ll work to bring it back,” he said recently. The title is still undecided heading into the event: Jorge Martín leads the standings by two points over Marc Márquez.

Among his many happy memories of Phillip Island, Stoner has chosen one in particular. He recalls winning a championship on his birthday, at his home Grand Prix, while earning his fifth consecutive victory at the circuit and securing his second world title. “All of that happened in one day, at my home circuit. I don’t think anyone else in history has had all of that happen to them in a single day,” he says.

That day, three rounds remained on the schedule and Stoner held a substantial advantage. Jorge Lorenzo, then second in the standings, crashed and injured a finger. Casey recalls: “It was a very difficult day. Unfortunately, Jorge crashed during the morning warm-up and injured a finger.” Lorenzo chose not to race. Stoner says that decision completely changed his mindset: instead of targeting victory, he only needed to finish in the top four to clinch the championship early.

Rain made the race more difficult. Stoner says he was confident in the dry and expected to win, but rain began when three-quarters of the race had gone by. He nearly crashed, and many riders fell at that point, including Valentino Rossi. “I didn’t want to take too many risks because we had to win the championship. At the same time, I wanted to win the race,” he says, describing the challenge of balancing caution with ambition. Despite the conditions, he made it to the finish.

The victory also felt like a rebuttal to the criticism. Stoner says people credited his success to Ducati’s powerful engine rather than his ability. Moving to Honda, after the manufacturer had gone a long time without success, and then winning the championship with the team made him proud: “We won the championship and achieved the same thing as with Ducati.”

Phillip Island has been part of the championship since 1989 and has hosted it 29 times. Casey Stoner won six consecutive premier-class races there from 2007 to 2012; Valentino Rossi also has six victories at the circuit in the top category. This weekend’s event is therefore set to be MotoGP’s final announced visit to the track, while Stoner argues that racing should return.