Guest Blog: Mat Oxley: Inside the mind of Casey Stoner

MotoMatters.com is delighted to feature the work of iconic MotoGP writer Mat Oxley. Oxley is a former racer, TT winner and highly respected author of biographies of world champions Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi, and currently writes for Motor Sport Magazine, where he is MotoGP correspondent. We are featuring sections from Oxley's blogs, which are posted in full on the Motor Sport Magazine website.

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Inside the mind of Casey Stoner

I spent some of the festive break reading Casey Stoner’s autobiography, Pushing the Limits. It’s an enjoyable book and should be required reading for any aspiring kid racer (presuming they’ve been off the bike long enough to learn to read) and for any parents of same.

Stoner’s abilities and his success confirm the verity of the 10,000 hour rule which suggests that’s the minimum amount of time you need to spend doing any pursuit if you want to be world-beating good at it. In other words, there are no short cuts on the way to the top – it’s just work, work and more work.

The young Casey Stoner

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/m_I6bI3V2n4/guest_blog_mat_oxley_inside_the_mind_of_.html

Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem

Portimao Private WSBK Test Press Release Round Up

Press releases issued by some of the World Superbike and World Supersport teams present at the Portimao test held over the past few days:

Year: 

2014

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/jErFhY8JiMI/portimao_private_wsbk_test_press_release.html

Zsolt Baumgartner Elie Bayol Don Beauman Karl Gunther Bechem

The Simply MUST Improve This Season

McLaren cannot afford another so-so season if they want to still be considered as a big team this year. 2013 was sub-standard for the Woking based outfit, which finished the year fifth in the constructors standings, their worst performance since 2004 if you do not count their expulsion from the 2007 championship. They had to [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/vel37RPVJBQ/the-simply-must-improve-this-season

Christian Danner Jorge Daponte Anthony Davidson Jimmy Davies

It?s Your 2013 Exit Interview: No. 17 Paul Menard

Welcome to From the Marbles' 2013 driver reviews. Here, we're going to critique, praise and bloviate about the top 30 drivers in the 2013 NASCAR season. A Menard minute.

Paul, if every season has signature moments, yours had two. However, they were both explosions. That's not the best way to be remembered.

Much like the driver who finished just below you in the standings, you had a strong open to the season and it all came crashing down on you at Daytona. That was explosion number one.

Just 23 laps into the race, your engine bit the dust in a nice bit of fire and smoke. You entered that race 15th in the points standings. Because no one else had issues yet, you finished last. You left that race 20th in the standings. It was all over from there.

You did move back up to 16th, but by then the Chase was an afterthought. You needed a win or two.

The second explosion was that tire at Homestead. Rubber from a tire issue wrapped around your brake line, which started a fire in the right-rear hub of the car. And then when your crew went to change the tire and extinguish the fire, the tire on the car got so hot that it exploded. That might have been a bigger impact than the engine.

With Kevin Harvick's departure at Richard Childress Racing, you're now the longest-tenured Cup driver at the team. That takes a second to sink in, doesn't it? There were some giggles and jokes when you moved over to RCR before the 2011 season -- being sponsored by family does that to you. The Dillons can relate -- but in those three seasons, you've finished 17th, 16th and 17th. That's acceptable, isn't it?

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Previous Reviews: No. 18 Aric Almirola, No. 19 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 20, Jeff Burton, No. 21 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 22 Marcos Ambrose, No. 23 Denny Hamlin, No. 24 Casey Mears, No. 25 Mark Martin, No. 26 David Gilliland, No. 27 Danica Patrick, No. 28 David Ragan, No. 29 Tony Stewart, No. 30 Dave Blaney

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2013-exit-interview-no-17-paul-menard-212259601--nascar.html

Art Cross Geoff Crossley Chuck Daigh Yannick Dalmas

End of a season

Source: http://www.popoffvalve.com/2012/9/16/3340226/end-of-a-season

Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain

It?s Your 2013 Exit Interview: No. 24 Casey Mears

Welcome to From the Marbles' 2013 driver reviews. Here, we're going to critique, praise and bloviate about the top 30 drivers in the 2013 NASCAR season. It's Casey's corner now.

Thanks for joining us Casey. Where should we begin?

You potentially had the most consistently nondescript season of anyone in the Cup Series this year. And before you get all riled up and think that's going to merit a bad review, it's not. It's the truth, and in your situation, it's not a bad thing, is it?

Your team is small, has fairly limited resources and just a year or so ago was in a situation where you were having to do the start and park furlough thing. This year, there was none of that and it showed in your performance.

The restrictor plate lottery fell in your favor once this season as it seems to do for all small teams and that July Daytona night was the best finish of the season for you all. Below that, there were a lot of top 20 qualifying efforts -- eight of them -- and nine top 20 finishes.

However, there is a bit of cause of concern. Perhaps it's because you're on such a small team, you had four of those top 20s in the first six races. Your last top 20 was at Watkins Glen in August. Woof.

But here's where that consistency comes in. Save for three races in which you retired from because of crashes, you were running at the finish in every race. No terminal issues is a big victory for a small team.

What's in store for next year? We're thinking more of the same.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @NickBromberg

Previous Reviews: No. 25 Mark Martin, No. 26 David Gilliland, No. 27 Danica Patrick, No. 28 David Ragan, No. 29 Tony Stewart, No. 30 Dave Blaney

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2013-exit-interview-no-24-casey-mears-204253664--nascar.html

Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell Raul Boesel Menato Boffa

It?s Your 2013 Exit Interview: No. 2 Matt Kenseth

Welcome to From the Marbles' 2013 driver reviews. Here, we're going to critique, praise and bloviate about the top 30 drivers in the 2013 NASCAR season.

We'll refrain from making a remark about how much a change of scenery helped you, Matt, because that's blatantly obvious, isn't it?

For all of the success that you had this season, it feels a bit overshadowed by what happened at Phoenix. It was the worst time -- OK, so maybe Homestead could have been worse -- to have your poorest race of the season. Going toe-to-toe with Jimmie Johnson was suddenly negated with a ill-handling car and an inability to work through traffic.

But it shouldn't. You won seven races. That's two more than you've ever won in a Sprint Cup season, though your tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing certainly didn't get off to an auspicious start with the engine gremlin attack at Daytona. Imagine what would have happened if that would have been your Phoenix downfall.

Yeah, one of those race wins may had been a tad tainted, but it may have been in spite of the overweight rod and not because of it. That explains how the penalty was sharply reduced. You also won the first race of the Chase, and that set the stage for the showdown with the champion.

After two years outside of the top 10 in 2008 and 2009, you've entrenched yourself (again) as a top 10 driver. That's not going to change any time soon.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Previous Reviews: No. 3 Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Kyle Busch, No. 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 6 Jeff Gordon, No. 7 Clint Bowyer, No. 8, Joey Logano, No. 9 Greg Biffle, No. 10 Kurt Busch, No. 11 Ryan Newman, No. 12 Kasey Kahne, No. 13 Carl Edwards, No. 14, Brad Keselowski, No. 15 Jamie McMurray, No. 16 Martin Truex Jr., No. 17 Paul Menard, No. 18 Aric Almirola, No. 19 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 20, Jeff Burton, No. 21 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 22 Marcos Ambrose, No. 23 Denny Hamlin, No. 24 Casey Mears, No. 25 Mark Martin, No. 26 David Gilliland, No. 27 Danica Patrick, No. 28 David Ragan, No. 29 Tony Stewart, No. 30 Dave Blaney

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2013-exit-interview-no-2-matt-kenseth-193437654--nascar.html

Bob Anderson Conny Andersson Mario Andretti Michael Andretti

It?s Your 2013 Exit Interview: No. 2 Matt Kenseth

Welcome to From the Marbles' 2013 driver reviews. Here, we're going to critique, praise and bloviate about the top 30 drivers in the 2013 NASCAR season.

We'll refrain from making a remark about how much a change of scenery helped you, Matt, because that's blatantly obvious, isn't it?

For all of the success that you had this season, it feels a bit overshadowed by what happened at Phoenix. It was the worst time -- OK, so maybe Homestead could have been worse -- to have your poorest race of the season. Going toe-to-toe with Jimmie Johnson was suddenly negated with a ill-handling car and an inability to work through traffic.

But it shouldn't. You won seven races. That's two more than you've ever won in a Sprint Cup season, though your tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing certainly didn't get off to an auspicious start with the engine gremlin attack at Daytona. Imagine what would have happened if that would have been your Phoenix downfall.

Yeah, one of those race wins may had been a tad tainted, but it may have been in spite of the overweight rod and not because of it. That explains how the penalty was sharply reduced. You also won the first race of the Chase, and that set the stage for the showdown with the champion.

After two years outside of the top 10 in 2008 and 2009, you've entrenched yourself (again) as a top 10 driver. That's not going to change any time soon.

- - - - - - -

Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg

Previous Reviews: No. 3 Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Kyle Busch, No. 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 6 Jeff Gordon, No. 7 Clint Bowyer, No. 8, Joey Logano, No. 9 Greg Biffle, No. 10 Kurt Busch, No. 11 Ryan Newman, No. 12 Kasey Kahne, No. 13 Carl Edwards, No. 14, Brad Keselowski, No. 15 Jamie McMurray, No. 16 Martin Truex Jr., No. 17 Paul Menard, No. 18 Aric Almirola, No. 19 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 20, Jeff Burton, No. 21 Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 22 Marcos Ambrose, No. 23 Denny Hamlin, No. 24 Casey Mears, No. 25 Mark Martin, No. 26 David Gilliland, No. 27 Danica Patrick, No. 28 David Ragan, No. 29 Tony Stewart, No. 30 Dave Blaney

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/2013-exit-interview-no-2-matt-kenseth-193437654--nascar.html

Fred Agabashian Kurt Ahrens Jr Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto