Casey Stoner Versus Marc Márquez: Who Would Win The Impossible MotoGP Dream Race?

When MotoGP visits Phillip Island, the spirit of Casey Stoner floats over "the circuit at the end of the world." From 2007 to 2012, the Australian dominated the breathtaking water's edge racetrack with an iron fist. In fact, during those six years, the two-time world champion not only won every of Grand Prix held there, he did it in such a way that his rivals assumed Phillip Island was an untouchable Stoner fortress.

Stoner’s successes have been compared many times with those of five-time and reigning MotoGP World Champion Marc Márquez. Some have even speculated about a one-on-one battle between the two riders, who are unanimously recognized for their incredible natural talents. Who would win a duel between the two “aliens”? Stoner, with his spectacular throttle control, or the tightrope magician, Márquez?

“I think if it were a ‘normal’ race, Casey would win quite easily,” Cal Crutchlow replied earlier this year when asked the Stoner-versus-Márquez question. “But if the two went head to head in a fight between just the two of them, Marc would be the winner.” Of those with whom I spoke about an impossible Stoner/Márquez race, Crutchlow is the only one who offered his opinion on a possible outcome.

The rest of that list includes recently retired Dani Pedrosa, who “suffered” both riders at Repsol Honda; Cristian Gabarrini, who was responsible for Stoner’s bikes at Honda and Ducati and Márquez’s Honda in his first year of MotoGP; Shuhei Nakamoto, who signed both riders for HRC; Michelin MotoGP manager Piero Taramasso; and Jeremy Appleton of Alpinestars, which supplies the leather suits and other protective needs for both riders.

Pedrosa was Márquez’s teammate for the past six seasons and teamed with Stoner in 2011 and ’12. During that eight-year period, both riders won the MotoGP world title—Stoner once, Márquez five times. “Casey is a very special person,” Pedrosa said. “He has a very high natural talent to ride a motorcycle. As a rider, he remained in his territory. He did what was good for him. He was not interested in anything about the world beyond his box.

“Márquez is different. He also has a lot of talent. He also is very quick. But he is more like a chameleon. He adapts to what each situation needs or competitor requires. If you have to ‘stick’ to [Valentino] Rossi, you camouflage yourself in Rossi mode. If he is chasing Dovizioso, he adapts to Dovizioso’s form of racing. Who would win? I wouldn’t dare guess a result; we are talking about two riders out of the highest category of talent.”

Former HRC VP Nakamoto was ultimately responsible for bringing both Stoner and Márquez to the Repsol Honda team. He gave the orders: "You must sign Stoner!" and "I want Márquez!" He recalled, "I noticed Marc when he was running in 125cc. He caught my attention not because of his aggressiveness but his balance control. Already he showed what now seems exceptional to everyone.

“Of Casey, what I have always been impressed with is his corner entry. Nobody has done it or does it with the forcefulness that he did. His movement from upright to leaned over inside the corner was as if triggered by a switch; there was no transition. Then there was the throttle control that made him famous. Casey did not need electronics. With his wrist and the rear brake, he generated the same effect.”

Nakamoto often had to manage the day-to-day events of both riders. Depending on the day and his mood, Stoner could be quite complicated. Márquez, Nakamoto said, is more “simple.” The 25-year-old Spaniard “is always smiling and always chooses the appropriate words for each situation, but inside he is completely different.” Try as I might, I was unable to get Nakamoto to explain exactly what he meant by “different.”

As he was leaving the interview, Nakamoto turned around and asked me, “Do you know what the real difference is between Casey Stoner and Marc Márquez?” Placing the palms of his hands behind the ears, the ex-HRC boss said, “Marc listens and pays attention to what he says.” Sticking his index fingers in his ears, Nakamoto said, “Casey goes through life with two plugs in the ears.”

Gabarrini, who spent the past two seasons with Jorge Lorenzo at Ducati, was responsible for the motorcycles that Stoner and Márquez raced, so his opinion on this subject was obligatory. “I was only with Marc one year, his arrival to MotoGP, so it was a learning season,” Gabarrini said. “His ability to learn and assimilate was incredible. For me, without any doubt, they are the two greatest talents that have been in MotoGP in the last 10 years.

“Casey was special. His talent to go fast on a motorcycle was huge. He did not listen sufficiently to what was said to him, but that talent was so great it was enough to win. One of his virtues is he knew after a couple of corners what the conditions of the track were, how he should ride, how he should accelerate. More than once he left pit lane and before doing one lap went back to the pits. ‘There’s something wrong.’ I told him, ‘There is no way that after one lap you realize something’s wrong; take a couple of laps to see what happens. ‘Trust what I say; check it.’ And almost always he was right.

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“Márquez and Stoner share a level of adaptation to conditions above the rest,” Gabarrini added. “They understand how to use their bikes at all times and are able to change their riding as the circumstances of the race change—both the asphalt level and with respect to the riders in the race. What is very different is how they use the motorcycle. For Marc, the front is essential. Braking is his strong point and that makes it the part of the bike that should transmit confidence. Casey needed that confidence from the rear because he was riding the bike from the rear wheel.”

While it is certainly true that his moments of maximum on-track splendor are forever linked with Bridgestone tires, Stoner spent his first season in MotoGP and, after retiring, in his test-rider phase at Ducati, on Michelin rubber. Piero Taramasso, who manages the French tire brand’s spec involvement in the world championship’s premier class, immediately nodded when asked about Stoner.

“One thing distinguishes Casey from all the others: his ability to take 100-percent advantage of what the tire can give in each condition from lap one. He didn’t need one or two laps to understand the tire/asphalt situation. He was full on from the first exit from the box. In that aspect, the one who more resembles him is Jorge Lorenzo.” And Márquez? “Marc is not so radical this way. I would say that in the first two laps it goes to 90 or 95 percent.”

Appleton, the final person on my interview list, helped me discover some curious aspects of the personalities behind both Stoner and Márquez. “Márquez, like most of our riders, uses a kangaroo-skin suit, which is characterized by its flexibility and comfort. Casey, on the other hand, always made us make cowhide suits because he said it gave him more of a feeling of wearing a shell.”

Appleton further defined the character of each rider. “When Stoner made a decision about anything, for him it was a closed topic, and it ceased to exist. Márquez is always willing to discuss how to improve; he never closes the door to anything. He contributes ideas, like putting sliders on the elbows.” Treatment during race weekends is also different. “Marc is open to talking; Casey lived in his own world, and nothing that was not racing touched him.”

After listening to the explanations of some of the people in the MotoGP paddock who have lived and worked closely with these two monster talents, my own desire to see Casey Stoner and Marc Márquez challenge each other on the racetrack with the same equipment is even greater. I agree with Cal Crutchlow when he said, "I would pay money—a lot of money—to see those two race together."