IT’S easy to understand why Casey Stoner is the fans’ favourite at Phillip Island.
Starting with his first win on home soil in 2007, Casey Stoner sent the crowd into raptures on six consecutive occasions at the famous Phillip Island circuit, including 2012, marking the final time he’d race at the Island.
But, as he revealed prior to the start of the ‘Homecoming Ride’ at San Remo on Thursday, just after being serenaded by students from the San Remo Primary School with a rousing rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ for his 40th birthday, he was no fan of the Phillip Island track in the beginning.
“A lot of people talked about me having the advantage at my own home GP in 2007, but I’d hardly ever raced there and didn’t know much about the track,” Stoner revealed in an interview before the ride.
He said a number of the high-speed corners on the track, including his signature Turn 3, concerned him greatly for the way they were hit by the wind in certain conditions, and it was some time before he really felt comfortable at the Island.
When he made his first-ever appearance there in 2001, as part of the 125cc World Championship, he and his family had been making their home in Europe for a few years to pursue his burgeoning career at age 16 and he even felt something of an outsider coming to Phillip Island.
“I’d never seen a place so tough to get used to but I found some tricks over the years that worked although I was never confident on the front due to the wind,” he said.
But it was here that he scored his first-ever World Championship points, riding a privately entered Honda 125, and the rest is history. He’d done enough to convince the factory teams that he deserved a full-time Grand Prix ride and he was on his way.
And as for Turn 3, now Casey Stoner Turn, he didn’t like that corner initially because of the wind but when he found the right way to ride it, it unlocked precious seconds for him, becoming one of his keys to success at the Island.
Speaking to the ‘Homecoming Ride’ crowd at San Remo, which gave him three cheers for his birthday, he said he worked out some unique strategies at the Island circuit, including using his trademark sliding technique on several of the track’s turns, to gain an edge and ultimately fell in love with the uniquely beautiful, potentially treacherous Phillip Island circuit, becoming one of few to master its spectacular layout.
Speaking with MotoGP.com he said his race each year started as soon as he crossed the bridge at San Remo.
How special is it to be here, at a place where you won more than anybody else, meeting with all the fans and riding with them across to the track?
“It’s something special, for sure. I mean, this bridge is quite synonymous with Phillip Island to get on here. You know, every time we drove from the airport down to get ready for the race, you know, as soon as you cross this bridge to the Island, it was, it meant something, you know, it meant that this race, for me, unfortunately, added a little bit of extra pressure, especially the more I started to win here, the more pressure and expectation there was.
“But it's still something special. This racetrack is unlike anything around the world. It's still what I would call old school. You have to deal with the weather, these different conditions, high speeds, low grip in a lot of ways. So, it's truly, a really, you know, incredible experience. And to lead the ride across the island is a nice feeling indeed.”
Thank you very much, Casey, and happy birthday to you!
Prior to addressing the crowd, Stoner had a long chat with Aussie hope Jack Miller and after signing autographs, spending time with the local kids who come down every year, Stoner fired up his heritage Honda and led the capped crowd of 500 across the bridge in glorious sunshine, headed for two laps of the circuit.
One of them, Andries Posthuma from Sommerville on the Mornington Peninsula, jumped online just after the ‘Homecoming Ride’ tickets went on sale and scored ticket 378 about 10 minutes after they went on sale.
“Who could complain on a perfect day like this, but most people do it for the chance to ride around the track a couple of times.
Sergeant Peter Pearce of the Victoria Police issued the customary warning about riding safely, allowing space between riders and not overtaking when it was unsafe, but there were to be no mishaps… let’s hope it stays that way.