Within the time since his retirement, Casey Stoner’s MotoGP legacy has turn out to be extra firmly rooted in his first premier class title, that which got here in 2007 with Ducati, however together with his second title in 2011 the Australian did one thing virtually completely reverse.
Stoner’s Ducati title was after all the primary for the Italian marque within the premier class of Grand Prix racing, and subsequently the justification of the venture which first took to the MotoGP grid in 2003: the second yr of the four-stroke period of the World Championship.
It was an achievement that more and more stood out as time handed, and after Stoner’s retirement, as Ducati was by no means in a position to re-establish itself as a title-contending producer in MotoGP till 2022 when Francesco Bagnaia gained his first title (or, arguably, the again finish of 2021 when Bagnaia gained 4 races from the final 5, together with the ultimate three in succession).
Shifting to Honda for 2011, Stoner transitioned from being part of a model for which he was the supply of all of their success to 1 the place he was solely one in every of a protracted line of champions who had raced for the producer.
Even in 2011, the well-known Repsol-Honda partnership was already in its seventeenth yr, and it had loved the skills of champions akin to Mick Doohan, Alex Criville, Valentino Rossi, and Nicky Hayden.
In fact, earlier than Repsol arrived in 1995, Doohan had already gained his first 500cc title in 1994, and HRC’s record of premier class champions stretches again to incorporate Eddie Lawson, Wayne Gardner, and Freddie Spencer, too.
Stoner’s title, then, put him amongst a particular pantheon of the game’s biggest riders, particularly those that have gained within the premier class with Honda.
For the Tokyo-based producer, although, it was a key victory, as Stoner’s success put an finish to Yamaha’s current domination (the Iwata marque had gained successive titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010 with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo), and it was Repsol Honda’s first championship win in MotoGP’s 800cc period on the ultimate try, because the 1,000cc guidelines had been launched in 2012.
One of many key figures behind Stoner’s and Honda’s success that yr was Shuhei Nakamoto, who had joined HRC as vp in 2009 after Honda’s F1 group folded on the finish of 2008; and with whom Stoner lately reunited on a visit to Tokyo.
The primary two years of the 800cc period had been poor for Honda, with an underperforming RC212V that was by no means in a position to constantly problem Ducati and Stoner or Rossi, Lorenzo, and Yamaha.
For the 2009 season, there have been notable technical adjustments, together with adjustments in suspension model (from Honda subsidiary Showa to Ohlins) and brakes provider (from Honda subsidiary Nissin to Brembo).
That yr, Dani Pedrosa gained solely two races, however in 2010 was in a position to mount a real title problem towards Jorge Lorenzo till he was pressured to overlook the Japanese Grand Prix after a apply crash.
Honda’s 800cc enhancements temporally aligned themselves with a decline in Ducati’s competitiveness. They had been subsequently in a position to signal Stoner for the 2011 season with the easy promise of a bike that might win a title.
