Mick Doohan believes compatriot Casey Stoner will prove the man all other MotoGP riders have to beat for years to come.
Legendary Aussie backing compatriot to dominate next few years
Mick Doohan believes compatriot Casey Stoner will prove the man all other MotoGP riders have to beat for years to come.
Having switched to Honda at the start of the 2011 season, Stoner has gone on to wrap up his second world championship in the premier category.
The 26-year-old Australian has been the class of the field this term, racking up nine victories and clinching the title at his home race at Phillip Island last month.
Doohan, a five-time world champion, feels Stoner will now go from strength-to-strength at Honda and insists he can establish himself as one of the all-time greats.
"Honda's a more stable platform," Doohan stated. "If they get the bike right next year again he should keep winning.
"He understands the bike. If the bike stays there I think over the next five years it's his to lose. He's going to be a hard guy to beat.
"Already on paper he's one of the best there's been. If he (Stoner) consolidates this year's championship with another one he's just going to get bigger and bigger."
Quiet persona
Indeed, Doohan claims that the only reason Stoner does not attract more acclaim for his exploits is because of his low-key persona away from the track.
"He's already a household name, the only big difference is that people probably wouldn't know his face," He continued. "He's just racing bikes. Winning races is what he's contracted to do.
"He's a quiet guy. Just because you're a world champion doesn't mean you have to be a movie star."
Meanwhile, Doohan acknowledged that he, along with the entire sport, had been hit hard by the recent death of Marco Simoncelli at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Simoncelli tragedy
The Italian, 24, died after a crash in the early laps of the race at the Sepang circuit - the first fatality in the sport's top class since Japan's Daijiro Kato in 2003 which also came just a week after Britain's double Indianapolis winner Dan Wheldon perished after an accident on the track in Las Vegas.
"It's not up to me to comment. It's such a personal thing," the 46-year-old added. "It's somebody's life, it's somebody's family and son.
"There's always going to be controversy. Football and rugby kill people too. Are we going to ban all sports? Life is terminal.
"We could all sit in the lounge and not get off our butt, but that's not the nature of what we are. It was a grim week for motorsport but all we can do is try and learn from it and try and improve."
