Casey Stoner once shared his ‘biggest regret’ about his retirement from MotoGP

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Casey Stoner was only 27 years old when he retired from MotoGP in 2012. He’d won two premier-class championships at that point, one of them just a year earlier.

Several factors contributed to Stoner’s retirement, but the overarching theme was that he was physically and mentally drained. He said MotoGP was no longer the sport that he’d fallen in love with.

Stoner was still rapid as a test rider for years to come, but this decision wasn’t down to his competitiveness. He had finished third in the 2012 championship and won five races.

Besides, the Honda factory team didn’t look back, signing Marc Marquez for the 2013 season. Marquez won the title as a rookie and would only be beaten once before the end of the decade.

Casey Stoner wishes his family could have seen his ‘dedication’

Stoner’s first daughter was born in February 2012, just before his final season. He and his wife Adriana Tuchyna would have another in 2017.

As he explained in an interview with Motor Sport Magazine, he wishes he could have shown his children what was required to reach the ‘top in MotoGP’.

“Probably my biggest regret was that I didn’t bring them around and show them the cultures and the world we travelled and that kind of stuff,” he said. “My kids did not grow up seeing what hard work, dedication and all these things that it takes to get to the top in MotoGP.

“Instead, they saw me for most of their lives sitting on a couch struggling with chronic fatigue being a lazy a—. It was hard for me to show them dedication to anything when I could not do it personally. That was the toughest time of being a dad.”

Marquez wanted to learn directly from Stoner, but MotoGP fans were denied what could have been a gripping rivalry between the two riders. Regarded as two of the most naturally talented competitors ever, they have been repeatedly compared over the years.

‘It was never an obsession’ – Casey Stoner on his MotoGP career

Stoner was revered for his pace in practice sessions, where he was able to find the limit much more quickly than other riders. He simply saw this as an ‘efficient’ approach.

Despite winning 38 races and scoring 69 podiums, the Australian claims he was never ‘obsessed’ with bike racing.

“It was never an obsession, what I did, I was just good at getting things done in a short amount of time,” he said. “Then, I didn’t want to think any more about it. I don’t sit and stir. I never saw my whole career as an obsession about bikes.

“I’d be like I was on track: I’d go out do shorter stints than everyone, less laps than everyone, get more out of it – in my opinion – than everyone in far less time. I didn’t need to run ten laps to get a feel for a bike. I could do it in two. I suppose it was more efficient.”

Stoner is worried about MotoGP’s direction under the 2027 rule changes. The FIM are hoping to improve safety and encourage racing, but he expects them to fail on both counts.