One of the stand-out features of Casey Stoner's
MotoGP career was his performance relative to his team-mates.
The newly retired double
MotoGP champion was beaten just five times by a team-mate - in races they both finished - during four seasons at Ducati, but later faced stiffer opposition in the form of
Dani Pedrosa at Repsol Honda.
Pedrosa proved to be by far Stoner's toughest team-mate, finishing ahead of the Australian on 11 of the 24 occasions that they both reached the chequered flag during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
But of Stoner's other team-mates,
Loris Capirossi and
Nicky Hayden beat the #27 just twice under such circumstances - with
Marco Melandri and
Andrea Dovizioso classified ahead only once when on the same equipment.
Stoner spent his rookie 2006
MotoGP year without a team-mate at LCR Honda, before joining Capirossi at the factory Ducati team in 2007. Stoner then rode alongside Melandri in 2008 and Hayden in 2009 and 2010.
A switch to Repsol Honda saw Stoner initially partnered by both Pedrosa and Dovizioso, before the HRC line-up was reduced to just Stoner and Pedrosa for 2012. Pedrosa missed three races through injury in 2011, with Stoner likewise missing three races due to injury last year.
2012 marked the only time a team-mate ever finished higher than Stoner in the
MotoGP championship standings.
MotoGP races where a team-mate finished ahead of Casey Stoner:
2006 - LCR Honda
No team-mate.
2007 - Ducati
Germany: Capirossi 2nd - Stoner 5th
Stoner held second for most of the race, but - like all Bridgestone riders - struggled with major tyre issues late in the race. Team-mate Capirossi nursed the rubber best and rose from fourth to second in the closing stages.
Japan: Capirossi 1st - Stoner 6th
A wet/dry bike-swap race at Motegi saw Stoner ride to a safe sixth place to claim his and Ducati's first
MotoGP title. Capirossi claimed what is still the only non-Stoner Ducati win since the start of 2007.
2008 - Ducati
France: Melandri 15th - Stoner 16th
Stoner suffered an engine problem while battling at the front and plummeted to last place as a result. Stoner was later lapped twice but credited as finishing in 16th, which was one place behind team-mate Marco Melandri.
2009 - Ducati
Unbeaten.
2010 - Ducati
Jerez: Hayden 4th - Stoner 5th
Hayden became arguably the first team-mate to defeat Stoner 'fair and square' - in a dry race and without any significant tyre or technical issues - at
Jerez 2010. Stoner was less than one second behind Hayden at the flag.
Silverstone: Hayden 4th - Stoner 5th