From 2000 to 2002, Stoner contested 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 yielded no podium places from 15 race starts.
In 2005, Stoner rejoined the 250cc world championship, racing again for 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 at Phillip Island, allowing Pedrosa to establish an insurmountable points lead. Stoner claimed five race victories and finished second in the overall standings.
In December 2005, Stoner re-signed with Cecchinello's team after the Honda Pons team failed to secure sponsorship, and the team arranged to run a Honda RC211V under LCR Honda for the 2006 season. As a rookie satellite rider, Stoner took pole position in just his second MotoGP race. His best result was a second place at the Turkish Grand Prix, where he led until being overtaken on the final corner by Marco Melandri. He finished eighth in the championship.
Stoner joined the factory Ducati team for 2007, riding alongside Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7. He opened his Ducati career with a first premier-class win at 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 rounds — and clinched the world title at Motegi, winning by a margin of 125 points (equivalent to five victories) over Dani Pedrosa. His worst finish was sixth at Motegi, enough to seal the title that day. The championship was the first premier-class title for an Italian or 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 carried the #1 decal on his bike. He opened with a victory at Qatar, then began a run of seven successive pole positions, converting three into successive victories: a lights-to-flag win at Donington, leading every lap at Assen six days later, and recovering from a heavy Friday crash at Sachsenring to win in the wet after Dani Pedrosa crashed. However, successive crashes while fighting for the lead at Laguna Seca (where he remounted to finish second to Rossi), Brno, and Misano cost him the title. Stoner finished runner-up to Rossi with 280 points — the highest points total without taking the title at the time — and six wins.
Stoner remained with Ducati for 2009 with new teammate Nicky Hayden. A strong start left him in a three-way battle with the Fiat Yamaha duo of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. He was then struck by a mystery illness causing premature fatigue during races. After being initially diagnosed with anaemia and stomach inflammation — a diagnosis Stoner later disputed — he announced on 10 August 2009 that he would miss rounds at Brno, Indianapolis, and Misano. He was subsequently diagnosed as lactose intolerant. Mika Kallio replaced him for those three races.
Stoner returned late in the season, finishing second at the Portuguese Grand Prix and winning the Australian Grand Prix wire-to-wire. He followed that with victory in the wet at the Malaysian Grand Prix, but crashed on cold tyres on the warm-up lap at Valencia and missed the final race. He ended the season with four victories and fourth in the riders' championship.
Stoner was fastest in testing on the 2010 Desmosedici following the Valencia round. He qualified on pole for the season opener at Qatar but crashed out — acknowledging it as his own mistake. He also crashed at Le Mans, attributing it to the front of the bike unloading off-pace. He recovered to take three wins late in the year, including his fourth consecutive victory at Phillip Island, before departing Ducati for Repsol Honda. He was replaced at Ducati by Valentino Rossi.
Stoner joined the Repsol Honda Racing Team for 2011 alongside teammates Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso. He was quickest in all three pre-season sessions in Malaysia. Stoner won the season-opening race at Qatar from pole after being quickest in every free practice session. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Valentino Rossi attempted an overtake and crashed, taking Stoner down as well. When Rossi came to apologise, Stoner replied with the now-famous line: "Obviously your ambition outweighed your talent." Stoner won three of the first five rounds, with victories in Le Mans and Catalunya in addition to Qatar, then added wins at Silverstone in damp conditions and at Laguna Seca to hold a 20-point lead over Lorenzo with eight races to go.
Stoner won his second world championship at his home round at Phillip Island on his 26th birthday, claiming his ninth win of the season from his eleventh pole. His only challenger, Jorge Lorenzo, was ruled out of the race due to a hand injury suffered in warm-up, leaving Stoner with an unassailable 65-point lead. It was his fifth successive win at Phillip Island, dating back to 2007, making him the only rider to have won at Phillip Island throughout the 800cc era.
Stoner began his final season with wins at Jerez and Estoril — tracks where he had not previously won — taking the championship lead. He won the Dutch TT at Assen to draw level on points with Lorenzo. At the Indianapolis Grand Prix qualifying session, Stoner crashed heavily, suffering torn ankle ligaments; he raced the following day, finishing fourth, but subsequently had surgery, missing three races and ending his championship challenge. He returned at the Japanese Grand Prix, finished third in Malaysia, and won his home race at Phillip Island for the sixth successive season, delivering an undefeated record on Bridgestone tyres at the circuit.
On 17 May 2012, at the pre-event press conference for the French Grand Prix, Stoner announced his retirement from MotoGP at the end of the season. He cited no longer enjoying competing in the series, the political stress of MotoGP, and a desire to spend more time with his family. He concluded his final season with a podium finish in his last race.
In January 2013, Stoner announced a move to four-wheel racing on a one-year contract with Triple Eight Race Engineering in the second-tier Dunlop V8 Supercar Series. He drove a Holden VE Commodore sponsored by Red Bull and Pirtek. His best finish was fifth at Queensland Raceway; he ended the season 18th in the standings with 704 points.
In 2013, Stoner signed with Honda as a test rider on a limited basis through to the end of 2014, renewing again in 2015.
On 27 March 2015, HRC announced Stoner would return to racing for a one-off ride at the Suzuka 8 Hours. His teammates were World Superbike rider Michael van der Mark and HRC test rider Takumi Takahashi. The team qualified fourth. With the team leading the race, Stoner suffered a violent crash caused by a throttle mechanism stuck open at 26 degrees, forcing him into a barrier. He sustained a broken right scapula and a fractured left tibia. Honda officially apologised for the mechanical failure.
In 2016, Stoner returned to Ducati as a test rider, his first session at Malaysia leaving him as the fastest Ducati rider. He served in this role through 2018.
Stoner met Adriana Tuchyna at Phillip Island in 2003; they began a relationship in 2005 and were married in Adelaide on 6 January 2007. Their daughter Alessandra Maria was born on 16 February 2012 — the same birthday as Valentino Rossi — and a second daughter, Caleya Maria, was announced on 6 October 2017.
During his 2009 illness, Stoner was ultimately diagnosed as lactose intolerant. In 2019, he revealed he was living with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and in 2020 became an ambassador for Emerge Australia. In 2022, Stoner revealed he had suffered severe anxiety and depression during his MotoGP career, describing laying on a motorhome floor between sessions being "massively depressed, wanting to die," with anxiety intensifying the better a race weekend went. He suspected a link between his mental health crises and the chronic fatigue, though a formal medical link had not been evidenced.
Stoner was named Young Australian of the Year in 2008. In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to motorcycle racing. The FIM named him a MotoGP Legend in October 2013. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in October 2015. The third corner of Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit was named "Stoner Corner" before the 2012 Australian Grand Prix.
Stoner's most successful circuit was Phillip Island, where he won six consecutive Australian Grand Prix events until his retirement, having never lost at the circuit on a factory bike. He recorded four wins at Qatar, and three each at Great Britain and Laguna Seca. He won 21 different Grand Prix events across his career in: Qatar, Turkey, China, Catalunya, Donington Park, Silverstone, Laguna Seca, Czech Republic, San Marino, Phillip Island, Malaysia, Netherlands, Germany, Valencia, Italy, Aragon, Japan, France, Indianapolis, Jerez, and Portugal. His 2008 season total of 280 points without a title was, at the time, the highest points total by any rider who did not win the championship.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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