Really Fast Motorcycle Racing In Really Slow Motion
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Casey Stoner during his stellar motorcycle racing career.
Stoner began racing bikes from a young age and moved to the UK to give his career a forward shove, and after getting his first taste of international competition in 2002, Stoner took home the MotoGP World Championship title in 2007 for Ducati Corse – and then followed up with a dominant season to take his second world championship title in 2011 riding for Repsol Honda.
Stoner has said in the past that he’d prefer a life outside the limelight in favor of letting his riding do the talking.
In a recent interview with Australian Motorcycle News, said, given his choice, he’d head back to quieter times and racing in the 500cc class.
“Back in those days, it was just racing – Doohan, Rainey, Schwantz, Gardner, Lawson – not half as much bullshit as now,” Stoner said. “That was the life.”
So how does he do it?
If you watch closely as a MotoGP race is run in real time – and you’re a keen observer – you’ll note a wide variety of riding styles and lines the riders choose. Lots of body-english, and the races happen at such lightning speeds that’s it’s nearly impossible to apprehend everything that’s going on.
What happens if you slow all the action down by about 50 times?
You get this, The Art of Speed.
Red Bull took their cameras out to do these Red Bull Moments, and as part of the shoots, they captured Casey Stoner at 1,000 fps slow-motion during the Catalan GP, and it’s astonishing to see what’s really going on as the MotoGP rider tears up the track.
Casey Stoner’s MotoGP Career Results
| Season | Class | Bike | Team | Race | Win | Pod | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd | WCh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 125cc | Honda RS125R | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 29th | – | |
| 2002 | 250cc | Aprilia RS250 | Team LCR | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 12th | – |
| 2003 | 125cc | Aprilia RS125 | Team LCR | 14 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 125 | 8th | – |
| 2004 | 125cc | KTM 125 FPR | Red Bull KTM | 14 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 145 | 5th | – |
| 2005 | 250cc | Aprilia RSA 250 | Team LCR | 16 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 254 | 2nd | – |
| 2006 | MotoGP | Honda RC211V | Team LCR | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 119 | 8th | – |
| 2007 | MotoGP | Ducati GP7 | Ducati Corse | 18 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 367 | 1st | 1 |
| 2008 | MotoGP | Ducati GP8 | Ducati Corse | 18 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 280 | 2nd | – |
| 2009 | MotoGP | Ducati GP9 | Ducati Corse | 13 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 220 | 4th | – |
| 2010 | MotoGP | Ducati GP10 | Ducati Corse | 18 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 225 | 4th | – |
| 2011 | MotoGP | Honda RC212V | Repsol Honda | 17 | 10 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 350 | 1st | 1 |
| Total | 161 | 40 | 79 | 38 | 31 | 2157 | 2 |
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