Casey Stoner

During the Le Mans press conference today Casey Stoner announced he will be retiring at the end of the current season.
Honestly, i'm not that surprised. After watching an interview he done with Azi Farni for the MotoGP website in the off-season shortly after his baby girl was born, he hinted that either this year or next year could be then end of the road. He stated he wanted to watch her grow up, to be able to spend more time with his family away from the sport and pursue other interests while he can.
He's always been open over the last few years that he'd likely end up retiring early than most and at 27 years old (by the time he retires) he looks to be set for the quiet life after this season.

Casey's retirement will be a huge loss to the sport; he represents the Aussies, he's a brilliant rider and most of all he's a genuine, nice guy.
I really admire the fact he's come to the conclusion that he does want to retire, for most drivers it's a distant thought and the longer they can ride in MotoGP the better - its their world, their passion and it's a sacrifice they make. For some riders they don't even get to think about retiring, they're taken from the world too soon. MotoGP is a dangerous sport, you never know what might happen next but with the down's there are some pretty amazing high's. Casey's got a lot of guts to give it all up.

Double world Champion (2007&2011) 

From what he said during the press conference here, it's the right decision for him to make. It's sad when a rider or driver loses his passion for the sport he's devoted his life to. In the time he's been riding the sport has changed an awful lot as well and i can imagine he's proberly not alone with his feelings that the sport might not be heading in the best direction.

He's going to bow out the sport being a double World Champion, maybe even a triple World Champion, in my opinion he's got a lot more to lose than he has to gain. 

I hope he can enjoy the rest of the season and wish him all the very best for 2013 onwards! He deserves the family time. 

Thank you Casey Stoner for being a big part of my MotoGP watching years! You'll be missed!

Loris Capirossi

In Thursday's press conference at Misano a teary eyed Loris Capirossi announced his retirement from MotoGP at the end of the season...

[In action - FP1 Misano] 

He''s a popular face around the paddock and received a standing ovation at the press conference, we hope he enjoys the end of the season and particularly his last Italian Grand Prix. Good luck!

Brno, Czech Republic - low down.

I'll start of by saying, this weekend the MotoGP world remembered Shoya Tomizawa who took his last pole at Brno last year and finished in 11th, his last finish at a Moto2 race. We miss you Shoya!! A young talent and an all round lovely guy who will always be remembered, Misano will be a hard weekend.

With varying weather conditions throughout the weekend, race day was the highest temperatures, with limited knowledge of what setup to use the 125’s were first out in the blazing sunshine.

With Nicolas Terol, the 125cc championship leader, having to retire because of mechanical problems, Sandro Cortese was able to take his first Grand Prix win, followed on the podium by Johann Zarco and Alberto Moncayo.

It wasn’t a strong day for the British riders as Danny Kent went out in the 125’s,Bradley Smith crashing and retiring out of the Moto2 class and Cal Crutchlow later crashing out in MotoGP.

Moto2 was another cracking race with the top four battling out to the chequered flag.

Stefan bradl led comfortably for the first half of the race but his race soon came under threat by Andrea Lannone, Marc Marquez and Alex de Angelis, all battling at the front.

Just as you thought one was in the lead, it changed and the order kept shuffling around till the last lap (a little confusing amongst the excitement of uncertainty of who would finish where)

On the last lap the battle for the win at Brno was between Lannone and Marquez who fought till the last corner when the Italian, Lannone took the win, the Moto2 podium was completed with Marquez in 2^nd and Bradl finishing in 3^rd.

With the lower classes completed it was time for MotoGP to get underway at Brno circuit, all riders opted for the extra-harder compound front and soft rear tyre except Jorge Lorenzo and Alvaro Bautista who both took a gamble and went for the softer front option.

Dani Pedrosa looked strong all weekend and with a solid pole position he was unable to keep in front when off the line and Lorenzo swiftly passed him with the rest of the ‘aliens’ not far behind.

Just seconds after taking back the lead from Lorenzo, who slipped back behind Stoner, Pedrosa lost the front end and subsequently crashed his Honda (he is okay, luckily) meanwhile in the middle of the field Valentino Rossi -who’s been struggling all year with his Ducati bike- managed to take 7^th from his team mate Nicky Hayden.

Stoner ran away in first ahead of Lorenzo and Dovizioso with a 2.5 second gap while home rider Karol Abraham, who’s weekend had been far from perfect, crashed out, to rejoin the race to then later retire with a mechanical failure, a disappointing weekend for him and then team however the crowd still had plenty of action to enjoy.

Lorenzo’s tyre choice gave him no favours and after having a few wobbly moments, Marco Simoncelli overtook the current world champion for 3^rd (yes, cleanly and stayed upright). Honda’s powered the front followed by the Yamaha boy’s n 4^th and 5^th with Rossi holding on to 6^th after having been pressured by Bautista who then crashed out.

Stoner went on to take his sixth win of the season, increasing his lead even further in the championship. Dovizioso came in 2^nd and it was a long time coming but Simoncelli finally got to step foot on the podium and enjoy the celebrations.

The best of the rest saw Lorenzo finish in 4^th along side his team mate Ben Spies, who despite having a trapped nerve causing trouble in his arm and neck came in a triumphant 5^th seeing as he was unsure as to whether he’d complete the full race distance. Rossi took 6^th a massive boost for the team who finally seem to be going forward rather than hanging around at the back of the field, somewhere we are not used to seeing Valentino Rossi, with his team mate Hayden finishing in 7th.

 [MotoGP Brno, Czech Republic podium - Casey stoner (1st) Adrea Dovizioso (2nd) Marco Simoncelli and his hair (3rd)]

With a test day taking place at Brno tomorrow with the new 2012 bikes,  MotoGP will be back in the USA in two weeks time.

Next up, Indianapolis, Indiana, aka the brickyard.