MotoGP News
Date: 17/May/2012
Reigning double World Champion and 2012 title leader Casey Stoner has announced he will retire from MotoGP at the end of this season.
The Australian, 26, had strongly denied he was planning to walk away from the sport just two weeks ago, but performed a dramatic U-turn at the pre-event press conference for this weekend’s Le Mans round.
Stoner said: "At the end of this 2012 season I will be not racing in the 2013 Championship. I will be finishing my career at the end of this season in MotoGP and go forward in different things in my life.
"After so many years of doing the sport which I love, and which myself and my family made so many sacrifices for, after so many years of trying to get to where we have gotten to at this point, this sport has changed a lot and it has changed to the point where I am not enjoying it.
"I don't have the passion for it and so at this time it's better if I retire now. There are a lot of things that have disappointed me, and also a lot of things I have loved about this sport, but unfortunately the balance has gone in the wrong direction.
"And so, basically, I won't be continuing any more. It would be nice if I could say I would stay just one more year, but then when does it stop? So we’ve decided to finish everything as we are now."
Stoner has won more MotoGP races than any other rider since 2006, when he joined the top class, and presently leads the 2012 standings by one point.
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