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107-520: The Aprilia RS250 is a race oriented motorcycle with technology derived from Aprilia's racing experience. It is inspired by the Aprilia RSW250 Grand Prix motorcycle used by riders such as Valentino Rossi , Max Biaggi and Loris Capirossi in MotoGP races. The RS250 was designed by Aprilia to resemble their GP250 bike to celebrate their success in the championship. The Aprilia RS250 is powered by

214-505: A 2010 season marred by a broken leg and no title defence, he left Yamaha to join the Ducati factory team, replacing Casey Stoner for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and endured two winless seasons with the Italian marque. Rossi returned to Yamaha in 2013 and finished fourth in the standings followed by three successive runner-up positions in 2014 , 2015 and 2016 . His best chance of winning

321-670: A 29-point advantage over Biaggi) and Portugal . He had another disappointing result in the Valencian Community round when he finished in 11th place, but then scored a string of race wins from the Pacific to the Rio rounds. Rossi won his first 500cc title with 325 points and third title overall, 106 points ahead of Biaggi, who became Rossi's main rival during the season. During the season, Rossi also teamed up with American rider Colin Edwards for

428-501: A BMW M4 GT3, which also bears the now iconic number 46. Rossi was born in Urbino , in the Marche region of Italy. While he was a child, his family moved to Tavullia . The son of former motorcycle racer Graziano Rossi , he began riding at a very young age. Rossi's first racing love, however, was kart racing . Fuelled by his mother, Stefania's, concern for her son's safety, Graziano purchased

535-448: A June 2014 interview, Stoner said he was enjoying his life away from the sport with his family and had no regrets about his retirement, further dismissing any chances of a comeback. Stoner showed signs of feeling under-appreciated by the general public. He was angered by consistent suggestions that the bike and tyres had a bigger role in his success than he did, and unhappy at being booed at Donington in 2007 and 2008. In August 2008 he

642-574: A crash. Rossi won the Rio round. However, it was Kenny Roberts Jr. who clinched the 2000 title after finishing in sixth position, which gave him an unassailable lead in the championship. After his second 500cc win, Rossi went on to finish second in the Pacific race and third in the Australian races. He finished second in his rookie season in the 500cc class with 209 points. Rossi dominated his second season in

749-492: A factory Mito by Lusuardi and won the Italian title. In 1994, Rossi raced in the Italian 125 CC Championship with a prototype called Sandroni, using a Rotax engine. The bike was built by Guido Mancini, a former rider and mechanic who had worked, in the past, with Loris Capirossi . A documentary about Mancini, called "Mancini, the Motorcycle Wizard" (Il Mago Mancini), was released in 2016 by director Jeffrey Zani and explains

856-505: A failed overtaking attempt. This was the only time he failed to make the podium that season. After Motegi , Rossi scored a podium in the form of second place in Malaysia and back-to-back wins in Qatar and Australia , beating Nicky Hayden for the victory. He finished the season with a second and third-place finish in the inaugural Turkish and the Valencian Community rounds. Rossi finished

963-458: A formal link had yet to be medically evidenced. Stoner's most successful race was the Australian motorcycle Grand Prix , which he dominated with six straight wins until his retirement, having never lost at the event on a factory bike. His next best races were Qatar with four wins and then Great Britain and Laguna Seca with three wins apiece. In addition, Stoner won every different Grand Prix that

1070-635: A fourth-place finish in the riders' championship. At the test held immediately following the Valencia round, Stoner was once again fastest while testing the new 2010 version of the Desmosedici. However, Rossi was fastest in five of the six pre-season tests. Stoner qualified on pole for the season opener in Qatar, and was leading the race when he crashed out, later acknowledging that this was his own mistake. He also crashed out of round 3 at Le Mans , this time attributing

1177-508: A good friend and having some fun in Texas!" Instead, Repsol Honda chose HRC test rider Hiroshi Aoyama to replace Dani Pedrosa. In 2016 Casey Stoner returned to the Ducati Corse Team as a test rider for the 2016 MotoGP season , ending his five-year tenure with Honda . Stoner's main role with Ducati is being a test rider and it has been further proposed that he may appear in some races as

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1284-416: A huge Friday crash at Sachsenring to win in the wet after Dani Pedrosa crashed, moving to within 20 points of the championship lead. However, successive crashes while fighting for the lead at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (where he remounted to finish second to Valentino Rossi ), Brno and Misano ensured that he could not defend the title successfully. Stoner finished the 2008 season with six wins and

1391-485: A kart as a substitute for the bike. However, the Rossi family trait of perpetually wanting to go faster prompted a redesign; Graziano replaced the 60 cc motor with a 100 cc national kart motor for his then 5-year-old son. Rossi won the regional kart championship in 1990. After this, he took up minimoto and, before the end of 1991, had won numerous regional races. Rossi continued to race karts and finished fifth at

1498-485: A modified Suzuki RGV250 (VJ22) engine which is prepared by Aprilia, changes include a revised ECU, Aprilia-designed expansion chambers , barrels and airbox. The twin 34 mm flat slide Mikuni carburettors are retained from the RGV. The frame is a cast twin spar aluminium/magnesium alloy with thin-walled monocoque reinforcements, with the engine as a fully stressed member manufactured by Benelli for Aprilia. The banana swingarm

1605-421: A remarkable sixth consecutive win in his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island and with a podium in his final race. On 27 March 2015, HRC announced that Stoner would return to competition in a one-off ride in the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours . Stoner crashed out of the race due to a stuck throttle, and Honda apologised to Stoner over the technical failure that caused him to injure his ankle and shoulder. Stoner served as

1712-412: A significant way to go before being competitive even with Rossi at the helm. This proved to be the truth with Ducati's lacklustre performance in the 2004 season, which had actually been worse than their inaugural year in MotoGP in 2003. In his 2005 autobiography, What If I'd Never Tried It? , Rossi offered another reason for choosing Yamaha over Ducati, saying that the mindset at Ducati Corse was similar to

1819-491: A tenth title came in 2015, where he led the standings for most of the season, finishing five points behind team-mate Jorge Lorenzo , the eventual champion. 2017 was the final season in which he achieved over 200 championship points, and he won his final race victory in the 2017 Dutch TT at the age of 38. After three winless seasons with the Yamaha factory team, he moved to Petronas SRT for 2021, retiring after only one season with

1926-546: A test and development rider for former team Ducati from 2016 to 2018. From 2000 to 2002, Stoner contested the national 125cc GP championships in Britain and Spain, winning the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000, before moving full-time to the 250cc GP World Championships in 2002. His season on an Aprilia under the guidance of Lucio Cecchinello was turbulent, with no podium places from 15 race starts. In 2005, Stoner rejoined

2033-435: A throttle malfunction which forced him to dump his bike into a guard barrier. The crash saw their race come to an end. Stoner suffered a broken right scapula and a fractured left tibia as a result of the accident. Stoner commented on the crash, "I didn't have enough time to engage the clutch [when the throttle stuck]. I picked the bike up to try to slow down but I was heading towards the wall so I decided to lay it over and hit

2140-522: A wild card entry. Stoner participated in the official pre-season tests at Malaysia and was the fastest Ducati rider on the grid. He finished the final day of testing with the 5th-best time overall. Later on in April, Stoner considered racing at the Argentine Grand Prix to fill in for the injured Danilo Petrucci but decided not to. Ducati manager Luigi dall'Igna commented that Stoner's physical fitness

2247-611: Is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer , and a two-time MotoGP World Champion , in 2007 and 2011 . During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the factory teams of Ducati and Honda , winning a title for each team. Born in Southport, Queensland , Stoner raced from a young age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a racing career. After first competing internationally in 2002, Stoner became MotoGP World Champion in 2007 for Ducati . One of Stoner's greatest talents

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2354-419: Is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed The Doctor , Rossi is widely considered one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time. He is also the only road racer to have competed in 400 or more Grands Prix. Of Rossi's nine Grand Prix World Championships, seven were in the premier 500cc/MotoGP class . He holds

2461-403: Is considered by many observers to be one of Rossi's greatest career moments due to the unique circumstances. After being given a ten-second penalty for overtaking Marco Melandri under yellow flags due to a crash by Ducati rider Troy Bayliss , front runner Rossi pulled away from the rest of the field after being informed of the penalty, eventually finishing more than 15 seconds ahead, overcoming

2568-508: Is made out of the same polished aluminium alloy as the rest of the frame. The reason for the swingarm's banana shape is to allow the expansion chambers to run unobstructed under the engine to improve ground clearance in turns. The forks are 41 mm Showa (on the MY98+ models) inverted units and are adjustable compression and rebound, the rear suspension is a Sachs mono-shock which is adjustable for preload, compression and rebound. The front brakes of

2675-537: The Australian and Valencian Community rounds, battling with the likes of Troy Bayliss, Nicky Hayden, Makoto Tamada and Max Biaggi to take his ninth victory of the year. Rossi finished first with 304 points to Gibernau's 257, with Max Biaggi third with 217 points. He clinched his third MotoGP, fourth top class and sixth overall championship in the penultimate race of the season in Phillip Island , beating Gibernau by just 0.097 seconds to do so. In 2005, Rossi and

2782-599: The Czech Republic , first in Portugal and second once again in Japan . In the inaugural Qatar round, controversy arose when Rossi's team was penalised by starting in the back of the grid for grid cleaning. Gibernau won the race, whilst Rossi crashed out of the race when he was in sixth position. Despite this second DNF of the season, Rossi scored a pole that he converted into a win in Malaysia and two more regular victories in

2889-707: The Czech Republic Grand Prix in August 2011, Stoner announced that his wife was pregnant with their first child. The baby, named Alessandra Maria, was born on 16 February 2012, the same birthday as Stoner's long-time rival Valentino Rossi . On 6 October 2017, their second daughter Caleya Maria's birth was announced by Stoner on social media. Stoner wore sponsored protective gear from Spidi between 2002 and 2005 , and Alpinestars between 2006 and 2012 . After announcing his retirement from MotoGP, Stoner still wore sponsored gear from Alpinestars, between his debut of

2996-522: The Rio de Janeiro race, Rossi crashed out when he lost the front of his M1 and slid into the gravel whilst battling with Makoto Tamada , Max Biaggi, Nicky Hayden and Alex Barros , forcing him to retire from the race. After the Rio round, Rossi found himself off the podium once more in fourth place in the German GP but bounced back by winning the British round from pole. He then went on to finish second in

3103-529: The Rio de Janeiro rounds. He finished second in the Pacific GP after a mistake made him run off into the gravel and relegated him to ninth, which made it impossible for him to catch race winner Biaggi in the closing laps. Rossi ended his season in style by scoring three consecutive poles and race wins in the Malaysian , Australian and Valencian Community rounds. The Australian Grand Prix in Phillip Island

3210-620: The Spanish to the German rounds, including two pole positions in the Dutch and British GPs. His only retirement of the season was from the Czech Republic round. He then had back-to-back wins in Portugal and Rio , two second-place finishes in the Pacific and Malaysia , another victory in Australia and a second-place finish in the final race in the Valencian Community . Rossi went on to win eight of

3317-450: The Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race aboard a Honda VTR1000SPW , becoming the first Italian rider to win the race. The pair won the race despite Rossi's lack of experience racing superbikes . In 2002, 500cc two-strokes were still allowed, but saw the beginning of the 990cc four-stroke MotoGP class, after which the 500cc machines essentially became obsolete. The inaugural year for the MotoGP bikes

Aprilia RS250 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3424-427: The 250 cc GP racing class. Its appearance is similar to Marco Melandri's RSWGP250 bike, with the same engine and frame as the pre-1998 model. The bike has a dummy ram-air intake. Changes include: Valentino Rossi Italian motorcycle road racer Family Eponyms Valentino Rossi ( / ˈ r ɒ s i / ROSS -ee , Italian: [valenˈtiːno ˈrossi] ; born 16 February 1979)

3531-403: The 250cc world championship class, racing once again for Lucio Cecchinello's team on a works Aprilia . He 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 to claim a solid second place in

3638-621: The 500cc class, scoring 11 wins and only finishing off the podium three times. He started the year off with a victory in Japan after battling with Max Biaggi. He then achieved back-to-back poles and race wins in the South African and Spanish rounds. He finished the French race in third place but crashed out of the Italian round whilst leading the wet race after taking another pole on Saturday. Rossi bounced back by taking pole position and winning

3745-441: The 8 Hours of Suzuka with Honda in 2001. He also won MotoGP World Championships with the factory Repsol Honda team in 2002 and 2003 and continued his run of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 titles after leaving Honda to join Yamaha. He lost the 2006 title with a crash in the final round at Valencia. In 2007, he ultimately finished third overall, before regaining the title in 2008 and retaining it in 2009. After

3852-668: The AGV team to the official Nastro Azzurro Aprilia Team and went on to dominate the season. He immediately started with a pole and race win at the 1997 Malaysian Grand Prix but retired from the next race in Japan. In the next two races, he bounced back by winning the Spanish and Italian rounds. Rossi finished second in Austria, just 0.004 seconds behind winner Noboru Ueda , then scored a flurry of victories from France to Britain, including three pole positions in

3959-728: The Australian V8 Supercars in 2013 and associated with the HRC with the tests of development new machinery for Honda RC213V . Following his experience of tiredness and sickness during 2009, Stoner was ultimately diagnosed as lactose intolerant . In 2019, Stoner revealed he was living with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). In 2020, Stoner became an ambassador for Emerge Australia, an advocacy and support organisation for CFS/ME. In 2022, Stoner revealed that he suffered severe anxiety and mental distress during his MotoGP career. He described laying on

4066-536: The Cagiva team, he damaged his motorcycle in a first-corner crash no more than a hundred metres from the pit lane. He finished ninth in that race weekend. Although his first season in the Italian Sport Production Championship was varied, he achieved a pole position in the season's final race at Misano , where he would ultimately finish on the podium. By the second year, Rossi had been provided with

4173-612: The Catalan round. He gained more points by finishing sixth in the 2000 Dutch TT . It took nine races before Rossi won on the Honda, but his first 500cc victory came after a fierce battle with the Suzuki of Kenny Roberts Jr. and the Aprilia of Jeremy McWilliams . On a track that was affected by ever-changing weather conditions and despite only qualifying in seventh position on Saturday, the Italian chose

4280-594: The Dutch, Imola and German rounds. After third place in the Czech round, Rossi then gained two more wins in the Catalan and Indonesian races. He finished sixth in Australia. He won the 1997 125cc title, winning 11 of the 15 races with 321 points. Throughout the season, he dressed up as Robin Hood and carried a blow-up doll on a few occasions. His fun-loving character gained him many fans at

4387-734: The Factory Yamaha team proved to be even more dominant than the year before. Rossi immediately began the season by capturing pole and winning the first round in Spain in a controversial manner, colliding with the Gresini Honda of Sete Gibernau on the last lap. He scored a second-place finish in Portugal but then went on to take five consecutive victories from the Chinese to the Dutch rounds, including three pole positions in France , Italy and Assen . In

Aprilia RS250 - Misplaced Pages Continue

4494-640: The Madrid round. He scored his first victory at the 1998 Dutch TT , when he was more than 19 seconds ahead of second-placed Jürgen Fuchs . He had to retire from the British Grand Prix but bounced back by achieving a podium place in Germany, finishing third. In the Czech Republic, he crashed out of the race, but then enjoyed a flurry of victories from Imola to Argentina. He finished the season, his rookie year in

4601-476: The RS 250 are Brembo dual 298 mm discs with Brembo Oro four-piston calipers. The rear brake is a single 220 mm disc with a Brembo twin-piston caliper. The front & rear rims are lightweight, 5 spokes, cast aluminum rims are 3.50x17 up front (3.0x17 on the older models) and 4.50x17 out back that require tires of 120/70x17 and 160/60x17, respectively. The RS gauges feature a digital instrument panel that gives

4708-538: The Saturday, and his first ever race victory in the 125cc class on the Sunday. He rode an AGV Aprilia RS125R and won after another tussle with Jorge Martínez. Rossi earned more points at Imola but was forced to retire in both the Catalan and Rio rounds. He scored points in the final round in Australia, finishing his first season in ninth place with 111 points. In his second year, the 1997 championship season , he moved from

4815-463: The barrier. Unfortunately the barriers were a lot harder than they looked and we came out of it with broken bones." Honda investigated the bike and discovered that the throttle mechanism had been defective and was stuck open at 26 degrees before the crash. Honda officially apologised to Stoner for the mechanical failure. After Repsol Honda Team completed the 2015 Qatar Grand Prix , Dani Pedrosa , Honda's 2015 MotoGP rider had to have surgery to treat

4922-516: The birth of the motorcycle and the relationship between Rossi and the mechanic. In 1995, Rossi switched to Aprilia and won the Italian 125 CC Championship. He was third in the European Championship. The 1996 championship season marked the debut of Rossi, then 17, in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. He had some success in his first year, scoring consistent points and sometimes finishing just off

5029-571: The championship in the 2010s. Stoner started the season with wins at Jerez, and Estoril, both tracks he had not won a MotoGP race at before; his victory in Estoril allowed him to take the championship lead. By finishing fourth at the Catalan Grand Prix , Stoner finished off the podium for the first time in fourteen months. He won the Dutch TT at Assen to move back level on points with Lorenzo, who

5136-581: The championship. Stoner's priority then was to be fully recovered for his home race in Australia, and he was slated to return at the Japanese Grand Prix in October. Upon returning, he finished fifth in Japan and third in Malaysia, before winning his home race for the sixth successive season at Phillip Island . The win gave him an undefeated record on Bridgestone tyres at the circuit. On 17 May 2012, during

5243-506: The class, as the championship runner-up with 201 points, just 23 behind champion Loris Capirossi. In the 1999 season , his second year in the 250cc class, Rossi became the sole driver of the official Aprilia Grand Prix Racing team, and dominated the championship. He began with a pole position in Malaysia but finished fifth on race day. He gained further points in Japan and went on to win the third round in Spain. Rossi had his second pole position of

5350-481: The compartment syndrome (arm pump) in his right forearm. This would mean that Pedrosa would miss the next two consecutive races, Austin and the Argentine . Stoner offered to fill in for Pedrosa for these two events. However, HRC Vice President Shuhei Nakamoto and Repsol Honda team manager Livio Suppo decided against using Stoner because they did not have a motorcycle specifically set up for Casey, they also said that Casey

5457-491: The crash to the front of the bike unloading when not running at maximum pace. His first podium of the year came at Assen , despite struggling with arm pump late in the race. It was not until the thirteenth race of the season, the inaugural Aragon Grand Prix , that Stoner achieved his first victory. His victory in Aragon started a run of three victories in four races, as he also won the delayed Japanese Grand Prix , and won for

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5564-567: The end of races, leaving him 16 points behind Rossi and 7 behind Lorenzo after the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on 5 July. Stoner was initially diagnosed with anaemia and an inflammation of the stomach lining. Stoner later disputed the diagnosis, however, and, after continuing to struggle with the condition, he announced on 10 August 2009 that he would miss rounds 11, 12 and 13 in Brno, Indianapolis and Misano, respectively, in an attempt to recover from

5671-462: The end of the season. Mid-season rumours pointed towards a possible move to Ducati, which sent the Italian press into a frenzy; the concept of Rossi on the great Italian bike seemed too good to be true. Ducati did indeed try to seduce Rossi into riding their MotoGP bike, the Desmosedici , but for numerous reasons Rossi passed the offer up. Critics say that compared to the other manufacturers, Ducati had

5778-502: The final race of the previous season on his Honda bike. Rossi took another pole in Spain but his fourth-place finish on Sunday saw the end of a 23-race podium streak. He once again had to miss out on the podium in France but responded with three consecutive victories in Italy , Catalunya and the Netherlands , a race that he won from pole after a hard-fought battle with Gibernau. In

5885-408: The finish line after a titanic battle between the two. After Germany, Rossi won three more races and scored two more poles: a pole position converted into a victory came in the Czech Republic where he battled with championship rival Gibernau once more, Rossi overtaking him on the final lap to take victory by just 0.042 seconds. A regular victory came in Portugal and another pole-victory came in

5992-536: The first United States round since 1994, Rossi struggled and finish in third place whilst local hero Nicky Hayden won the race. Rossi bounced back by picking up three more wins, starting from a pole-victory in a rainy Great Britain and two regular victories in Germany , holding off Gibernau on the last lap, and the Czech Republic . Rossi's crashed out of the Japanese round when he collided with Marco Melandri during

6099-564: The first five rounds of the season, with victories in Le Mans and Catalunya to add to his Qatar victory. Stoner added victories at Silverstone in damp conditions, and Laguna Seca , to hold a 20-point lead over Jorge Lorenzo with eight races to go in the season. Stoner proposed boycotting the Japanese Grand Prix out of fears for his health from radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant even though all

6206-426: The first four ), took him to his first GP title, by a margin of 125 points (equivalent to five victories) over Dani Pedrosa , which he built during the second half of the season. His worst finish was a 6th place at Motegi , which was all he needed to clinch the title that day, taking the first premier class title for an Italian or a non-Japanese manufacturer since Phil Read's title for MV Agusta in 1974 . Stoner

6313-414: The first nine races of the season, eventually claiming 11 victories in total. He clinched his second title in the Rio de Janeiro race, his first in the inaugural class, and fourth title overall with four races remaining. After a strong 2002, Rossi continued to dominate in 2003 despite competition from emerging Spaniard Sete Gibernau . Rossi took pole and won the first round of the season in Japan , but

6420-516: The following race in Catalunya , despite making a poor start that dropped him to 15th place at the end of the first lap. He scored a second place after narrowly losing out on the race victory with Biaggi in the Dutch round. He followed this up with another win: this time the British GP. Rossi finished a disappointing seventh in Germany but then took back-to-back wins in the Czech Republic (gaining

6527-418: The following year. The rumours intensified when V8 Supercars team Triple Eight Race Engineering announced that Red Bull; a long-term sponsor of Stoner, would be the major sponsor of the team from 2013 onwards, replacing Vodafone. After numerous denials, in January 2013, Stoner announced that he would indeed move to touring car racing on a one-year contract with Triple Eight Race Engineering. Stoner would race in

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6634-530: The fourth consecutive year at Phillip Island . He eventually finished fourth in the riders' championship once again. With Rossi having fallen out of favour with Yamaha following Lorenzo's championship-winning season and Honda no longer willing to play second fiddle to another Japanese manufacturer, an intense game of musical chairs ensued in the MotoGP paddock that saw several of the top riders switch teams, Stoner among them. For 2011, Stoner joined Honda Racing Corporation after four years at Ducati Corse , where he

6741-480: The free practice sessions held before qualifying. Stoner took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix , but had been running second behind Marco Simoncelli in wet conditions. Valentino Rossi attempted an overtake on Stoner from a long way back and crashed, taking him down as well. After the race, when Rossi came to his garage to apologise for the incident, Stoner replied with the now-famous line, "Obviously your ambition outweighed your talent. Stoner won three out of

6848-402: The illness, he was subsequently diagnosed as lactose intolerant . Mika Kallio was chosen as Stoner's replacement for the three races. Stoner returned to racing late in the 2009 season, placing second in the Portuguese Grand Prix and an emphatic first in the Australian Grand Prix, which he led throughout. At interview following the Australian Grand Prix, Stoner said that he experienced none of

6955-483: The independent scientific experts including the World Health Organization and Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency stated that it is safe to live permanently 80 km (50 mi) or more from the plant. Stoner won the World Championship for the second time at his home round at Phillip Island , Australia. On his 26th birthday, Stoner won his ninth race of the season from his eleventh pole, and with his only challenger Jorge Lorenzo ruled out of

7062-421: The last lap. He won in Italy and came second again in Catalunya . He took two third-place finishes in the Dutch and British rounds – the latter the result of a ten-second penalty for overtaking under yellow flags, gifting victory to Max Biaggi in the process – and another second place in Germany , once again battling Gibernau who denied him victory with just 0.060 seconds separating both when they crossed

7169-480: The mid-field most races with a highest finish of 5th at Queensland Raceway . He finished the season 18th in the standings with 704 points. In 2013, Stoner signed with Honda as a test rider to aid in the development of new machinery on a limited basis through to the end of the 2014 season. He renewed his contract again in 2015 for another season of test riding through to January 1, 2016. After three years retired from MotoGP, on 27 March, HRC announced that Casey Stoner

7276-440: The motorhome floor between sessions being massively depressed, "wanting to die", and being afraid he would let his team down if he did not win every race. The anxiety was worse "the better the weekend he had" on the bike. He also revealed that he got aware and better at 'managing' his condition as he got older. He also suspected a link between his mental health crises and the chronic fatigue that developed during his career, although

7383-426: The national kart championships in Parma . Both he and his father thought about transitioning to the Italian 100cc series and the European series, which could have potentially directed him toward Formula One . However, the high costs associated with kart racing led them to choose to focus solely on racing minimotos. Through 1992 and 1993, Valentino continued to learn the ins and outs of minimoto racing. In 1993, Rossi

7490-413: The next race, Stoner crashed heavily during the qualifying session for the Indianapolis Grand Prix , suffering torn ligaments in his ankle but was declared fit to race the following day. He finished fourth in the race, 2.5 seconds behind third-placed Andrea Dovizioso . Stoner then elected to have surgery on his ankle, ruling him out of action for three races which essentially put him out of contention for

7597-459: The one he was trying to escape from at Honda. Ultimately, Rossi signed a two-year contract with rivals Yamaha reportedly worth in excess of US$ 12 million; a price no other manufacturer, even Honda, was willing to pay. Rossi made the switch from Honda to Yamaha and signed a two-year contract with the team. Many doubted his move and would expect Biaggi, who joined the Honda Pons team a year earlier, as well as Gibernau to be genuine contenders for

7704-678: The overall championship standings, with an impressive five race victories for the season. In October 2005, Stoner, along with Lucio Cecchinello's team , reportedly had an agreement to move to the MotoGP class in the upcoming season with support from Yamaha . After the season ended, he received an offer from the Honda Pons team and tested the Honda RC211V bike with them at Valencia . However, in December 2005, Stoner re-signed with Cecchinello 's team after Honda Pons failed to secure sponsorship for

7811-458: The penalty and winning the race. Rossi won the 2003 title in Malaysia, his third in the top class and fifth title overall, with two races remaining. He won the final race in the Valencian Community round with a special livery, this race marking his final win for Honda. With increased scepticism that the reason for his success was the dominance of the RC211V rather than Rossi, they parted ways at

7918-560: The podium in his races from Malaysia to Italy, but he retired in both the French and Dutch rounds. He scored more points by finishing fifth in Germany, but suffered another retirement in the British round. At the 1996 Austrian Grand Prix , Rossi achieved his first ever podium by finishing in third place after battling with Jorge Martínez . In the following race, the 1996 Czech Republic Grand Prix , he achieved both his first ever pole position , on

8025-495: The pre-event press conference at the French Grand Prix , Stoner announced that he would retire from MotoGP at the end of the 2012 season. Stoner stated that he no longer enjoyed competing in the series, which was one of the contributing factors to his retirement. Getting away from the political stress of MotoGP, as well as having a desire to spend more time leisurely with his family were further reasons for his retirement. In

8132-480: The premature tiredness that had dogged him earlier in the 2009 season. He followed this up with another first place in the wet at the Malaysian Grand Prix. At the last round of 2009 at Valencia, Stoner dominated all practice and qualifying sessions to take pole, only to crash on cold tyres on the warm-up lap and miss the race. Stoner ended the season with four victories, and eight podiums in total, leading to

8239-465: The race due to a hand injury suffered in warm-up, Stoner finished the weekend with an unassailable 65-point lead. His victory in the Australian MotoGP was his fifth in succession in his home race dating back to 2007 which made him the only rider to have won at Phillip Island during the 800cc era of MotoGP. He also was the only rider other than Marc Márquez or Lorenzo in the premier class to have won

8346-440: The race was marred by the death of Japanese rider Daijiro Kato who crashed in the 130R and hit the barrier at high speed in the ensuing Casio Triangle. Rossi finished second in the South African round before winning again in Spain , despite falling back to ninth place on the opening lap. Rossi scored three pole positions in the next three races and finished second in France after battling with Gibernau, who overtook him on

8453-415: The record for most premier class victories and podiums, with 89 victories and 199 podiums to his name. He won premier class World Championships with both Honda and Yamaha . He rode with the number 46 for his entire career. After graduating to the premier class in 2000, Rossi won the final 500cc World Championship (becoming the last satellite rider to win the top-class title until Jorge Martín in 2024) and

8560-468: The rider a variety of information. It will display maximum and average speed readings in kilometers or miles per hour, an adjustable rev limiter warning zone indicator, water temperature in choice of scale, battery charge indicator, a clock, and a chronometer that can remember up to 40 lap times. In 1998, Aprilia released an all new look for the RS250, also referred to as RS250GP1 to celebrate Aprilia's victory in

8667-509: The right tyres and stormed through the field to battle with Roberts Jr. and McWilliams and win his first race in the 500cc class. After his victory in Donington Park , Rossi went on to score consecutive podium places in the next three races: two second-place finishes in Germany and the Czech Republic and one third-place finish in Portugal. He retired from the Valencian Community round after

8774-510: The satellite Yamaha team and failing to achieve a podium for the first time in a career spanning 26 seasons in Grands Prix. The dominant force in MotoGP in the 2000s, all of Rossi's seven premier class titles came in this decade, including 77 race wins and 48 pole positions. In the ensuing 12 seasons, he managed 12 race wins and seven pole positions. During this period, Rossi was the 6th most successful rider in terms of total race victories. Rossi

8881-923: The season in France, but retired from the race. He bounced back with back-to-back wins in Italy and Catalunya. He finished second at the Dutch round, narrowly losing out to Capirossi. He then won the next three races from the British to the Czech Grands Prix. Rossi finished second in Imola, but was off the podium in eighth place at Valencia. He finished the season strongly with three more wins: one in Australia, where he fought hard against Olivier Jacque , one in South Africa, and one in Rio de Janeiro. After that, he finished third in Argentina despite starting in pole position. He actually won

8988-510: The season in first place with a total of 367 points, 147 points ahead of second-place finisher Marco Melandri and captured his fourth MotoGP, fifth top class and seventh overall championship in Sepang with four races remaining. He won 11 races including wins in three rain-affected races in Shanghai , Le Mans and Donington . Casey Stoner Casey Joel Stoner AM (born 16 October 1985)

9095-489: The second tier Dunlop V8 Supercar Series for the 2013 season . On 27 February 2013, two days before his debut at the Adelaide Street Circuit , Stoner unveiled his car, sponsored by Red Bull and Pirtek. His car would be a Holden VE Commodore , the same car that was driven to victory in the 2010 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 by Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes . His cameo season was unsuccessful, finishing in

9202-513: The time and in future seasons. After winning the 125cc title in 1997, Rossi moved up to the 250cc class the following year. In the 1998 season , the Aprilia RS250 was reaching its pinnacle and had a team of riders in Rossi, Loris Capirossi and Tetsuya Harada . Rossi had to retire from the first two races in Japan and Malaysia. He came back from this by scoring three consecutive second places in Spain, Italy, and France, but retired once more from

9309-446: The title during those seasons. Stoner had a strong start to the 2009 season but had to miss three races due to Chronic fatigue syndrome . In 2010, Ducati failed to challenge Yamaha and Honda until very late in the season, when Stoner went out on a winning note, winning three races. After his departure from Ducati to Honda following the 2010 season, Stoner won a second world championship title in 2011 for Repsol Honda . The championship

9416-649: The title in Rio de Janeiro, with the Argentinian round in hand, and finished the season with 309 points, his first 250cc world championship title and his second title overall. After achieving the 250cc World Championship in 1999, Rossi was given a seat with Honda in what was then the highest class in World Championship motorcycle racing, the 500cc. Retired five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan , who had also had Jeremy Burgess as chief engineer, worked with Rossi as his personal mentor in his first year with Honda. It

9523-501: The title this year. With the traditional first venue of the season in Suzuka having been taken off the calendar due to safety concerns following the fatal accident of Daijiro Kato in 2003, the 2004 season started in Welkom in South Africa. Rossi took the pole on Saturday and won the South African race after a hard-fought battle with Max Biaggi, becoming the first ever rider to win consecutive races with different manufacturers, having won

9630-460: The upcoming season. The team then made an agreement with LCR Honda to run the RC211V for Stoner in 2006. As a rookie satellite rider, Stoner took the pole position in just his second MotoGP race, but crashed several times during the season. He finished in 8th position in the championship, with his best result being a second place at the Turkish Grand Prix . He was leading the race until he

9737-498: Was 2002, when riders experienced teething problems getting used to the new bikes. Rossi started the year off strong and won the first race in wet conditions in Japan , beating several local riders who were racing as wildcards. He also took the pole position in the first five races. Rossi finished second in South Africa , where his teammate Tohru Ukawa took his first and only victory in the MotoGP class. He then scored victories from

9844-459: Was also the first time Rossi raced against Max Biaggi . Rossi started off his first year in the 500cc class with retirements in the first two rounds: he crashed out of the South African and Malaysian races. He scored points in the third round in Japan and picked up two third-place finishes in Spain and France. Rossi picked up additional points in Italy and another third-place podium finish in

9951-756: Was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to motorcycle racing. The FIM named him a Legend in October 2013 prior to the 2013 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix . In October 2015, he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame . The third turn at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is named after him. Stoner met Adriana Tuchyna from Adelaide when she approached him at Phillip Island in 2003 and asked him to sign her stomach. A relationship began in 2005 when she turned 16, and they were married in Adelaide on 6 January 2007. At

10058-475: Was criticised for his former Ducati team's association with tobacco company Philip Morris . Stoner has stated that he would prefer to shun the limelight and let his riding style do the talking. In an interview with Australian Motorcycle News, he was quoted as saying he would prefer a return to purer form of racing from the 500cc days, stating that "Back in those days, it was just racing—Doohan, Rainey, Schwantz, Gardner, Lawson—not half as much bullshit as now. That

10165-468: Was given his first opportunity to ride a 125cc motorcycle by former world champion Paolo Pileri , who became a team manager after retiring from competition. Later in 1993, with help from his father, Virginio Ferrari , Claudio Castiglioni and Cagiva factory racing team manager Claudio Lusuardi , Rossi competed in the 125 cc Italian Sport Production Championship on a Cagiva Mito alongside teammate Vittoriano Guareschi . At his first race meeting with

10272-489: Was his ability to ride any motorcycle beyond its perceived limits, even winning races on the inferior Ducati after both Honda and Yamaha had forged ahead in development during his later racing years. Stoner's 2007 title remained Ducati's only rider's championship until Francesco Bagnaia ’s win in the premier class in 2022. During 2008 and 2009 Stoner remained a strong contender, winning multiple races, but not being able to consistently challenge Valentino Rossi and Yamaha for

10379-662: Was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as an official Legend by the FIM at the awards ceremony after the conclusion of the 2021 season. His #46 bike number was retired at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix . Rossi owns and manages the Racing Team VR46 , which competes in MotoGP as of 2024. In addition to his team management role, Rossi competes full-time in the FIA World Endurance Championship , driving for Team WRT , in

10486-536: Was named Young Australian of the Year for his 2007 performance. In 2008, Stoner took the #1 decal on his bike. Stoner opened the 2008 season with a victory at Qatar , before a run of two races without a podium. He returned to the podium with a second place at Mugello , before starting a run of seven successive pole positions. He turned three of them into successive victories—a lights-to-flag win at Donington, leading every lap at Assen six days later, and recovering from

10593-492: Was overtaken on the final corner by Marco Melandri . Stoner secured a ride with the Factory Ducati Team for the 2007 season, joining Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7. Stoner started off his Ducati career on a high note with a first premier-class win in the Qatar opener, after a tense battle with Valentino Rossi . Stoner took ten race wins and six pole positions (including winning three of

10700-469: Was replaced by Valentino Rossi . Stoner raced with the Repsol Honda Racing Team in 2011 , with teammates Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso . In preseason testing in Malaysia , Stoner was quickest in all three sessions, closely followed by Pedrosa and reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo . Stoner won the season-opening race in Qatar from pole position, and had been quickest in each of

10807-509: Was runner-up to Rossi with 280 points, the highest number of points ever gained without taking the title at the time. Stoner remained with Ducati for the 2009 season with new teammate Nicky Hayden , with a further option for a 4th season in 2010. A strong start to the season left Stoner in a three-way battle with the Fiat Yamaha duo of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo , before he was struck by a mystery illness which caused him to feel tired long before

10914-520: Was taken out by Álvaro Bautista on the first lap. This put Stoner even in points with Lorenzo before a final-lap retirement at the Sachsenring , while battling teammate Dani Pedrosa. Stoner finished only eighth at the Italian Grand Prix after running off-circuit, later describing that he was "not comfortable" on the bike, but followed that up with a fourth win of the season at Laguna Seca. At

11021-590: Was the life." Before the 2012 Australian Grand Prix , the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit named the third corner "Stoner Corner". After announcing his retirement from MotoGP, rumours persisted throughout the year that Stoner would debut in touring car racing in 2013; specifically the Australian V8 Supercars series. Such a switch is a rare but not unprecedented move; as fellow Australian world motorcycling champion Wayne Gardner retired from motorcycle racing in 1992 and made his touring car debut

11128-464: Was to return to motorcycle racing in 2015. In July, Stoner competed at the Suzuka 8 Hours where he rode the Honda CBR1000RR . His teammates were World Superbike rider Michael van der Mark and MFJ All Japan Road Race JSB100 Championship and HRC test rider Takumi Takahashi . The team qualified for the race in fourth position. With his team leading the race, Stoner suffered a violent crash due to

11235-463: Was unfamiliar with Circuit of the Americas and Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo and they wanted him to be as competitive as possible. Stoner was disappointed as he tweeted, "Sorry to everyone but I am not racing @circuitamericas next weekend it would have been an honour to ride for @26_DaniPedrosa #NotMeantToBe." And, "Bummer I'm not racing, no prep needed as I wasn't planning on winning, just replacing

11342-567: Was won in a dominant fashion with ten Grand Prix wins and sealed by winning his home race with two races remaining. Prior to the 2012 French Grand Prix , Stoner announced that he would retire from Grand Prix racing at the conclusion of the 2012 season. Stoner was also the winner of his home Grand Prix of Australia on six consecutive occasions between 2007 and 2012. Due to a crash during practice at Indianapolis , Stoner missed several races due to injury, curtailing his championship challenge for his last season. He rounded off his MotoGP career with

11449-420: Was yet not at the level needed to compete and added that, "[Casey] has also had some physical problems, he still lacks strength. It wouldn't make any sense to enter him in a race [at this point]. Mid-way through the season, we'll see." Ultimately he did not compete that season. Stoner was named the 2008 Young Australian of the Year for his 2007 MotoGP performance. In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours , Stoner

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