Why stoner quit

The Honda move was another immediate success. In Stoner once again won more than half the races to win his second MotoGP title.

Stoner made an excellent start to his title defence in , winning two of the first three races to lead the points chase. And then on the eve of the fourth race he dropped the bombshell.

During the pre-event press conference at Le Mans the year-old announced he would retire at the end of the season, at the peak of his career. Casey and Adriana recently celebrated 14 years of marriage. During the next seasons following his retirement the media came alive every few months with rumours of a Stoner comeback.

The Aussie was second in Japan, behind Valentino Rossi, in But there was no comeback. At the end of MotoGP banned Moto2 and Moto3 riders from using campervans in the paddock, to make room for more corporate hospitality units. Overnight the paddock was transformed, from a bustling global village to glitzy marketing mall.

At the same time MotoGP technical regulations were rewritten to allow motorcycles powered by superbike engines onto the grid. Stoner ended that year with a win in Valencia, ahead of Pedrosa 2. MotoGP prototypes also underwent changes to narrow the performance gap between the different factories. Stoner believed this handicapped the cleverest engineers, thereby tainting the purity of grand prix racing.

All the bikes are basically clones of each other, which is why they run so close together. Stoner has never been afraid to speak his mind, most famously when Rossi wiped him out at Jerez in I think it'd be really nice to see some fantastic racing again at the front, but with only a few factory bikes out there it's not going to happen soon.

There is just no way for them to get anywhere near the factory bikes. The first of the CRTs comes into parc ferme after, I think, the race and qualifying.

It's clearly separating them. This isn't a two standard series. This is a MotoGP championship. This is a prototype championship. Now we're just taking the opposite step and going backwards. It's not starting again from the beginning, it's going backwards. It's not the championship I've always wanted to race in. And except from my competitors around me, they are the only ones that give respect to each other. It's not easy. Sure I'm going to enjoy this year, but I think if I continue it would only be a mistake on my behalf.

It has a small part of making the decision easier, but by no means is it the reason why I made this decision," he said. Likewise, last December's V8 Supercar test didn't influence his decision, although Stoner confirmed he is interested in competing in the Australian series.

Finally it happened," he said. That will not be in the very immediate future. There are many things I'd like to do with my life and to be honest I don't want to finish racing and not want to ride a bike for the next years. This has been my whole life. And if I keep doing it I'm afraid I'll completely lose my passion for it and not want to go near a bike for ten years.

That would scare me. Speaking in a clear voice throughout, Stoner kept his emotions under control, but was clearly moved when asked if he felt retiring so young was a waste of his enormous talent. Because my competitive nature will then take over what the passion cannot hold.

Maybe I am the only young one with a good career ahead of them to retire so early, but at the same time you know I've spoken the truth always. In all my media commitments. I didn't lie to anybody. Just the information got out, and I'm not sure how or by who, but I hadn't even decided by then.

So it was wrong information. I haven't done the things I like for a long time. It's been frustrating. I haven't been shooting with a bow for probably ten months. I have a problem with my ribs, and I often suffer from back pain. I've improved by taking new medication, but I can't train or go out and do things. I often just lie on the couch for a week, which makes my wife's life difficult too.

The first time I got back on my bike since January last year was for a test in the United States for my birthday for an Alpinestars event. We raced a bit, without pushing, but I got tired.