Casey Stoner to retire end of 2012 season

[2TInstitute]

No more Casey Stoner slides after this year. Happy to say I saw him through 'Stoner Corner' at PI. Thanks for the memories Casey

[ken007]

great rider, but i dont blame him, its a bloody dangerous game and he has his family, im sure hes not short of a quid and theres talk about V8 supercars, who knows, young enough to come out of retirement if he wants.

[hybrid]

Nothing to do with his family according to the interview he did for local TV.

Sounds like political reasons behind the scene in MotoGP. He also doesn't like some of the rule changes, such as no Rookies can go straight to factory classes, and the introduction of CRT.

[Stankflapper]

on the flip side he could be waiting for the " Dont go Casey, how much do you want to stay" cheque from Mr Honda.

[hybrid]

Thats possible I guess, but unlikely.
If you hear some of the interviews he's done, you can see he's clearly very much over the whole thing.

It's not all about the racing any more... too much politics.
I have been quietly hoping that he would get involved in some vintage GP racing or something like that, but having been at the top of the game in something completely unrelated, I know what it's like to step back to a lower level, and I doubt that's going to happen either.

[EPApolice]

Who wants to race at the top of the sport if there are only 12 proper bikes on the grid and if you forget about the Ducati heaps theres only 8. Your almost guaranteed a top 10 if you just turn up, its hardly worth staying up to watch anymore.

[Jeram]

interesting thing is I think I will forget Stoner alot sooner than Il forget Doohan or even Bayliss.

[Stankflapper]

interesting thing is I think I will forget Stoner alot sooner than Il forget Doohan or even Bayliss.

Well Stoner certaily needs some spark to his personality, however lets not forget that he is a very talented AUSSIE rider, that has shown to the world that we are better than them,,,, again.

[hybrid]

I have no issues with Stoners personality. When you see him interviewed by Aussie networks he has a bit of a laugh and seems "normal".

I don't think Doohan or Bayliss were any different. IMO, the difference is that Stoner is compared to flamboyant Italians and Spaniards in the current crop of riders. I'd hate to see an aussie carry on like they do.