Background and career
Casey Joel Stoner (born 16 October 1985) is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer, and a two-time MotoGP World Champion, in 2007 and 2011. During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the Ducati and Honda factory teams, winning a title for each team. Born in Southport, Queensland, Stoner took up racing at an early age and moved to the United Kingdom to pursue his career. He joined MotoGP in 2006, riding for the Honda satellite team LCR. He joined the factory Ducati team in 2007 and won the championship. He was Ducati's first MotoGP World Champion, and would remain their only champion until Francesco Bagnaia in 2022. Stoner remained a strong contender on the Ducati in 2008 and 2009, winning multiple races despite the increasing superiority of Yamaha and Honda's bikes. Stoner made a good start to the 2009 season but had to miss three races due to chronic fatigue syndrome. In 2010, Ducati failed to challenge Yamaha and Honda until very late in the season, when Stoner picked up three race wins. Stoner left Ducati for Honda for the 2011 season. He won a second world championship in dominant fashion, taking ten race wins and sealing the title by winning his home race with two rounds remaining. In 2012, prior to the French Grand Prix, the 27-year-old Stoner unexpectedly announced that he would retire from Grand Prix racing at the end of the season due to burnout. Due to a crash during practice at Indianapolis, Stoner missed several races due to injury, curtailing his last championship challenge. He rounded off his MotoGP career with a remarkable sixth consecutive win in his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island, and a podium in his final race. On 27 March 2015, HRC announced that Stoner would return to competition for a one-off ride in the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours. Stoner crashed out of the race due to a stuck throttle, and Honda apologised to Stoner over the technical failure that caused him to injure his ankle and shoulder. Stoner served as a test and development rider for former team Ducati from 2016 to 2018.
From 2000 to 2002, Stoner contested the national 125cc GP championships in Britain and Spain, winning the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000, before moving full-time to the 250cc GP World Championships in 2002. His season on an Aprilia under the guidance of Lucio Cecchinello was turbulent, with no podium places from 15 race starts.
In 2005, Stoner rejoined the 250cc world championship class, racing once again for Lucio Cecchinello's team on a works Aprilia. He emerged toward the season's end as a serious threat to championship leader Dani Pedrosa; a threat that only dissipated with a crash at Stoner's home Grand Prix of Phillip Island, allowing Pedrosa to establish an insurmountable points lead. Stoner went on to claim a solid second place in the overall championship standings, with an impressive five race victories for the season.
In October 2005, Stoner, along with Lucio Cecchinello's team, reportedly had an agreement to move to the MotoGP class in the upcoming season with support from Yamaha. After the season ended, he received an offer from the Honda Pons team and tested the Honda RC211V bike with them at Valencia. However, in December 2005, Stoner re-signed with Cecchinello's team after Honda Pons failed to secure sponsorship for the upcoming season. The team then made an agreement with LCR Honda to run the RC211V for Stoner in 2006. As a rookie satellite rider, Stoner took the pole position in just his second MotoGP race, but crashed several times during the season. He finished in eighth position in the championship, with his best result being a second place at the Turkish Grand Prix. He was leading the race until he was overtaken on the final corner by Marco Melandri.
Stoner secured a ride with the Factory Ducati Team for the 2007 season, joining Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7. Stoner started off his Ducati career on a high note with a first premier-class win in the Qatar opener, after a tense battle with Valentino Rossi. Stoner took ten race wins and six pole positions (including winning three of the first four), took him to his first GP title, by a margin of 125 points (equivalent to five victories) over Dani Pedrosa, which he built during the second half of the season. His worst finish was a sixth place at Motegi, which was all he needed to clinch the title that day, taking the first premier class title for an Italian or a non-Japanese manufacturer since Phil Read's title for MV Agusta in 1974. Stoner was named Young Australian of the Year for his 2007 performance.
In 2008, Stoner took the #1 decal on his bike. Stoner opened the 2008 season with a victory at Qatar, before a run of two races without a podium. He returned to the podium with a second place at Mugello, before starting a run of seven successive pole positions. He turned three of them into successive victories—a lights-to-flag win at Donington, leading every lap at Assen six days later, and recovering from a huge Friday crash at Sachsenring to win in the wet after Dani Pedrosa crashed, moving to within 20 points of the championship lead. However, successive crashes while fighting for the lead at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (where he remounted to finish second to Valentino Rossi), Brno and Misano ensured that he could not defend the title successfully. Stoner finished the 2008 season with six wins and was runner-up to Rossi with 280 points, the highest number of points ever gained without taking the title at the time.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
