Monday 27th I asked Casey Stoner some rather inane sounding, but carefully constructed questions, to gain an insight into this remarkable young man.
Age?
– “I’m 18.”
Where were you born? “Gold Coast.”
Have you any siblings? “A sister age 24 she used to race before me, that’s what got me started. She was a journalist with the Newcastle Herald but left that last year, she isn’t working at present and is very interested in music.”
Who do you most respect? – “My father, Colin.”
What is your greatest fear? – “Not being able to race.”
What is your greatest weakness? – “I don’t really have one that stands out.”
What do you think is the toughest job to do? – “I don’t know too much about things like that, racing motorbikes is tough, I know that!”
How many kids have you got, if any? “None.”
Would you let them follow in your footsteps? “Most definitely.”
Do you have any professional qualifications? “I race motorcycles.”
How long have you been riding motorcycles? “15 years.”
How long have you been racing? “14 years.”
What was your first motorbike? “A Pee Wee 50.”
What was your first car? “Nissan Navara.”
What is your favourite bike? “None in particular.”
What is your favourite car? “My Nissan Navara ha ha, no it’d be a Holden Manaro.”
What is
your favourite track? “No one
favourite, I like four of them,
How does your family feel about you racing? “Fine.”
How long do you think you can continue competitively? “I Can’t say really, I mean Jeremy McWilliams is into his late 30’s and is still very competitive, so who knows for sure.”
What was your most memorable triumph? “The recent Race in Sepang, it was my best race.
Why do you say that?
“Mainly because I got a very bad start, was 14th on the first corner and I worked my way to second, then I thought my engine had seized, I pulled to the side of the track and put my hand up, I was 4 seconds behind, then got on the pace and caught them back up again to second place.
So what happened to the bike? “the rear brake locked on.”
Where would
you most like to live? “Niangala, below
the
Have you thought of moving away from your present home? “No!”
Had you ever thought of moving over to Superbikes? “Definitely not.”
What do you do for relaxation? “Fishing or riding motorcross bikes.”
Who is your greatest influence? “Mick Doohan.”
What or who motivates you? “Myself really.”
Who would you most like to meet? “I don’t really know because the people I’ve wanted to meet, I’ve met!”
How do you like being famous? “I find it a bit strange people coming up and asking you for your autograph, I keep thinking I don’t deserve it yet.”
Do you
follow the GP bikes or Superbikes? “We
actually don’t have TV over in
What do you intend doing when you retire from racing? If I can’t race, I want to be a mechanic, or something to do with motorbikes, plus I’d like to help Australian riders to make it overseas, it’s very hard to do that, so I really want to help in some way.”
What do you like to read? “Anything really, no particular books or magazines.”
What do you like to watch? “Sport mainly.”
What is your favourite movie or type of movie? “None really, no favourites.”
What is Your favourite music, singer or band? “None really, no favourites.”
How do you
manage fame? “I basically ignore it,
like I said before, I don’t think I deserve all the attention.”
Have you
and can you make a lot of money as a motorcycle racer?
“You can but we aren’t yet, we are just breaking even. We’ve got something
planned for next season, but I can’t say what it is yet, we’ll announce it
at
(This
turned out to be a KTM factory ride.)
What advice would you give to young people just leaving school? “If you have a dream, go for it and don’t give up.”
Do you stay in touch with your mates from 10 years ago? “I Still see a lot of people from dirt track days, not many others though.”
With
“On the last lap actually”
How did
that set you up for the weekend.?
“It wasn’t too bad, but qualifying doesn’t really mean anything. I’ve qualified bad before and done well”.
Did you
really feel as you were progressing through the race that this was your big
chance, I mean, you were fastest lap you were in front?
“Pretty much, I’ve had other chances and a lot better chances before and I’ve blown it a bit. You don’t really think about it when you going around in a race. I was quite comfortable really, I knew Perugini couldn’t catch me. So I was just staying on the same pace lap after lap. Dad told me that his laps were actually getting faster but that was when the track was drying out.”
Then you
low sided out of the race…
“Yeah, a very strange crash it was as well, I wasn’t too disappointed, I don’t think personally I did anything wrong. It could have been bad luck or even my fault but in the future I’ll just be more careful”
Was there
any warning that the bike was going to let go?
“No, it was really strange spot because it wasn’t a slippery area or one that you’re pushing real hard through and the rear just came round on me in a low side, which again is strange for a 125 as they usually lose the font or high side you”
Maybe a bit
too much throttle?
“I wasn’t even on the gas so that’s what’s so strange”.
You’ve
had a few injuries, what are you still carrying?
“I’m still carrying a problem with one of my fingers I use on the clutch, I don’t know what’s wrong with it but it’s not getting any better. My scaifoid (check spelling) injury, the tendons haven’t healed properly yet and they probably won’t even be at start of next season. The Collar bone is not a problem, it was good after a few weeks.”
Dad Colin – very proud of him – listens on occasions (tic) – good position for next year –
Mum Bronwyn – very supportive but really feels for him when he crashes – understands that that is his chosen profession.
O.K., next
season you have signed up with KTM, finally a factory ride.
Yep, definitely a factory ride, I’m, sick of having a non factory bike and having to struggle and push to keep up to the same limit as the other bikes.
You’ve
done very well on your privateer bike though.
It’s definitely taught me how to ride harder but it’s still frustrating when you know you’re riding hard enough and it’s still not good enough to win the race. So, hopefully next year KTM will be the one to take us there.
Mum &
Dad very proud of you?
I hope so, no they’re always great and are
right behind me.
With a sensational win in the 125cc class at the Valencia MotoGP, Casey Stoner looks set to take his first steps toward a successful GP race career.
I asked Casey and his father Colin, to give an insight into the 2003 season, the highs the lows and was there an explanation to some of the carnage Casey found himself caught up in.
Casey, next
season you have signed with KTM, finally a factory ride.
Yep, definitely a factory ride, I’m, sick of having a non factory bike and having to struggle and push to keep up to the same limit as the other bikes.
You’ve
done very well on your privateer bike though.
It’s definitely taught me how to ride harder, but it’s still frustrating when you know you’re riding hard enough and it’s still not good enough to win the race. So, hopefully next year KTM will be the one to take us there.
And your
win at
What can I say……
Mum &
Dad very proud of you?
I hope so, they’re always great and are right behind me.
From these comments and the ones gained in an
earlier interview you have to ask the question whether Casey Stoner has been
riding beyond the limit of the Aprilia. Colin analyses all the data from each
race so I asked him about those crashes and what might have been the problem.
Colin – “Casey was asked if he’d help race develop the Aprilia. A few of the other riders had tried but hadn’t quite come to terms with it. Casey liked the bike a lot saying it had heaps of potential, but it also had a tendency to react badly if the settings weren’t 100% correct.”
“Yes Casey has had his fair share of offs this last season, and the one caused by Steve Jenkner doesn’t help because it still gets written up as a crash. A couple of times Casey may have been at fault by pushing too hard, but most of the time the bike let him down.”
Colin relates some of Casey’s off track excursions,
“In Catalunya, Dovizioso braked too hard and
Casey clipped his back wheel then the bike flipped him off. At
“Through the season we’ve had engine or machinery failures that have caused us problems. The rear brake locking on happened a couple of times, look don’t get me wrong, Cecchinello’s team bent over backward for Casey, but we certainly had our share of bad luck.”
What do you think motivates Casey to race?
“Um, I don’t know really, I’ve never had to push him along he’s pretty much done that himself, he seems to know what he wants and is willing to go chase it down. I guess that’s where his moto comes from, Never Ever Ever Give Up.”
Many thanks to Graeme Boyd for arranging this
interview.