Marco Bezzecchi
Casey Stoner managed to win two MotoGP titles against Valentino Rossi during what was meant to be the prime years of the Italian’s career.
Importantly, he achieved a crown with two different teams, proving just how versatile he could be against the very best in MotoGP.
Stoner retired just one year after earning his second crown in 2012, at the age of 27. It was a shock to the whole paddock.
He was letting go of multiple opportunities to continue to beat Rossi, but following a few too many injuries, Honda had to find a replacement.
Marc Marquez would replace the Aussie, but Stoner was ‘better’ than Marquez at finding the limit of his bike quickly.
Nowadays, even at the age of 32, Marquez reminds Jorge Lorenzo of Stoner with his form on the track being so strong. They were and are fearless competitors.
Casey Stoner says the worst thing Valentino Rossi ‘ever did’ was make MotoGP enemies
Rossi’s Lorenzo relationship was ‘total tension’, and with his other rivals, things weren’t much better either. He seemed to prefer the intense nature of the warfare.
Although a big part of his legacy was tarnished with a supposed ‘kick’ on Marquez at the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, one of his rivals picked something even worse about him.
Stoner once said that he believes the worst thing Rossi did was make ‘enemies’ with his rivals, particularly later on in his career.
“The worst thing he ever did was make enemies,” he said. “All his later enemies. His early enemies he defeated. They weren’t as tough as us to come through.
“But he made an enemy out of me and Marc and [we are] two people that he really shouldn’t have in my opinion. He tried to poke holes with Marc and everything, and they got along well at the beginning.
“Then he became a competitor, then all of a sudden he made an enemy of Marc and Marc caused him a lot of problems.”
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Why Casey Stoner could have continued to beat Valentino Rossi in MotoGP beyond 2012
After Stoner retired in 2012, Honda went on to win every single title for the rest of the decade, apart from 2015, won by Lorenzo.
Either as Marquez’s teammate or in his place, there’s no telling what Stoner could have achieved if he had stuck around for a little longer.
He could have continued to be a pain for Rossi to contend with, but the psychological toil of such battles had clearly worn him.
Who knows if he ever would have been at his best again, or whether it would have opened the door for Rossi to win another title?
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