In the space of a week, Casey Stoner’s title defence has dropped from ‘likely’ to ‘hanging by a thread’.
The Australian, who is retiring from MotoGP at the end of the season, finished a distant eighth at Mugello, following his disastrous “boom or bust” final corner crash while in second at Sachsenring the previous weekend.
He now sits third in the standings, trailing 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo by 38 points, while Stoner’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa now shapes as the Spaniard’s main title contender.
Since announcing his departure ahead of the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, Stoner has scored just one victory and two podiums from six races. At the time of the announcement, he led the standings.
His victory at Assen came much easier than expected, as a helpless Lorenzo was eliminated by Alvaro Bautista at the first corner.
While much has been made of the chatter issues plaguing the Repsol Honda bike, as well as the severe arm-pump which cost him victory at the season opener at Qatar, the question now has to be asked: has the 26-year-old has lost all motivation?
He is a markedly different man from the one who dominated last year’s championship, form which he carried across to the first three races of this season. From the outside, he hasn’t been the same rider since his announcement.
Irrespective of where he finishes in his final season, nobody can take away his two titles, the first of which came on a Ducati bike which the greatest rider of all time, Valentino Rossi, is yet to tame.
Instead, we should applaud Stoner for having the guts to pull the pin now, rather than racing on having lost motivation many years before, like so many others before him have done, only to see their reputations diminished in the process.
Looking for great odds on racing and sport? Get into the action with PlayUp today. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Team Penske is under the same umbrella of ownership as the IndyCar Series itself, so it was imperative for to drop the hammer and protect their integrity—which, thankfully, they did.
Red Bull can’t rest on its laurels and if Perez can’t provide them with cover on the rare days that Verstappen is having trouble, it's time to look elsewhere.
The absolute vitriol against the Canadian that has come from the incident is beyond reprehensible.
The Long Beach Grand Prix is the Monaco of American motorsport, and this past weekend, the IndyCar Series reminded everyone exactly why. We witnessed…
New Zealand made a triumphant return to the Supercars championship calendar since the demise of the much-loved Pukekohe Park Raceway – as Taupō delivered…
It’s time that serious questions are asked of his Lance Stroll and his future in the team.
