On Phillip Island there are several corners with their own names and one of them has Casey Stoner. The Australian rider, two-time MotoGP World Champion, earned the right to do so and now, retired and calmer, he allows himself to analyze without pressure everything that is the most spectacular track on the entire calendar.
Stoner has been speaking with another great Australian driver, Chris Vermeulen, in an episode of the web series that is serving as a warm-up for the Australian GP that we will see in a few weeks. It will be a special Grand Prix for many reasons, but beyond the sporting aspect is the fact that, for the moment, it will be the last MotoGP weekend at the legendary Australian track.
Casey has acknowledged that Phillip Island is such a peculiar layout that in his 125 days he didn’t like it, but things changed over time in a layout that has many more peculiarities than may appear at first glance: “Nobody rode much on that track, especially the European riders, plus there was little grip, the asphalt was a little dirty. In MotoGP the most difficult thing was transmitting the power to the ground and making the tires last was a challenge. You had to play with the bike, let it slide. I started to be fast on 250, at first I wasn’t so comfortable, on 125 I didn’t like it. It’s not a circuit where you can relax, sometimes the front end abandons you and you don’t know why. The experience made me feel better. “It allowed you to go fast without taking risks.”
He also recognized how important the weekends at Phillip Island were for him as a local driver, even though not everything was as simple as it might seem and the emotions and sensations were varied: “Many things, a little stress, a little pressure. I loved driving there, for me it is the most beautiful track in the world. It is difficult to understand what the home GP means, the Spanish drivers have five a year to try to win, I only have one, with weather that could ruin everything. For me it was just another round, although for me it was nice to win there. It was like that the first time I did it, and the second, but then came enormous pressure for me, it was difficult to manage.”
Stoner does not miss the opportunity to throw stones at MotoGP
But after reviewing his career, his feelings and emotions, the moment that everyone expects from Stoner arrived, the one who doesn’t bite his tongue and points out what he doesn’t see well. It is no surprise that Casey is a staunch defender of Phillip Island, but he admits that the change really caught him by surprise despite everything and takes the opportunity to doubt Adelaide: “It is a great disappointment, I would never have thought it would happen. I knew that some renovation would be necessary, for example in the pit lane, but year after year we have seen the most beautiful races and it was a surprise to see it eliminated. I do not agree with replacing it with a street circuit. We talk a lot about safety, but we do not have four wheels or a cabin, when we make a mistake we go to the ground.”
Although the finishing touch, that last dart was for the category although it might seem like it was for the drivers. Stoner is always critical of technological evolution and that is why he considers that current pilots have not experienced the authentic Phillip Island: “There is too much electronics and, in my opinion, the riders today have not had the experience of what Phillip Island means with a MotoGP. They have wings that push you against the ground and all that electronics that does not allow them to know what Phillip Island really is.”
