Jorge Lorenzo explains what made Casey Stoner so special in MotoGP
More than a decade after his retirement, Casey Stoner is still hailed by Jorge Lorenzo as MotoGP’s ultimate natural talent.
Jorge Lorenzo has revealed what made former Ducati and Honda star Casey Stoner stand out from the rest of the grid in MotoGP.
Stoner made his debut in the premier class with LCR Honda in 2006, but it was his move to Ducati the following year that elevated him to instant stardom.
Riding for a manufacturer that had limited success in the championship, Stoner beat all odds to win the championship in his first year on the Desmosedici, outgunning the likes of Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi, among others.
After several seasons at Ducati, Stoner made a similarly successful switch to Honda in 2011, where he beat then-reigning champion Lorenzo in a straight duel to lift his second MotoGP title.
The Australian was likely destined for more success in the championship, but chose to hang up his helmet after the 2012 season at the age of just 27.
Three-time MotoGP champion Lorenzo recalled racing against Stoner, noting how he was instantly up to speed at the start of a weekend while others needed time to adapt to the conditions.
“Stoner, he's the rider with more instinct [and] more talent to immediately understand the limits of the track,” he said on the Mig Babol podcast.
“So yes, if the races were without practice, with just racing, he would win them all. He would win them all.
“When the track was so mixed and [with] very precarious grip, he understood where the limit was in all the points.
“Dry, wet to give the maximum, the maximum on all the tracks, in all the points of the circuits.
“At the end of practice, more or less, we were with him, but on the first run, he was two seconds ahead, it was incredible.”
Incidentally, while Stoner found immediate success at both Ducati and Honda, Lorenzo had a much harder time when he raced for those two manufacturers after leaving Yamaha.
Lorenzo won three races in his sophomore year with Ducati in 2018 but the Italian manufacturer chose not to renew his contract just when he was finding his feet on the Desmosedici.
His switch to Honda in 2019 proved to be much tougher and ultimately led to his retirement from active competition.
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Rachit joined the Crash.net team in 2025 with a primary focus on F1 and sportscar racing.
He previously served as a news editor at Motorsport.com, where he played a key role in the day-to-day editorial operations.
