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Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo (born May 4, 1987 in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was the 2006 and 2007 250cc World Champion[1].

Lorenzo made his championship debut on his fifteenth birthday, on the second qualifying day for the 2002 125cc Spanish Grand Prix - having to miss Friday practice as he was not allowed to race. He has a lollipop every time when he is on the podium, in deference to his sponsor Chupa Chups. Lorenzo dominated the 2007 250cc World Championship[2]. His first six poles of the season all lead to victories.

Jorge's victory at Misano in 2007 was his 16th in the 250cc class, making him the most successful Spanish rider of all time in the 250cc GP class -- with one more victory than Dani Pedrosa and Sito Pons.

After being linked with a Yamaha MotoGP ride for 2008,[3] on 25 July 2007 he was confirmed as Valentino Rossi's partner on a two year deal for the 2008 MotoGP season[4][5]. Lorenzo made a great start to his MotoGP career, after qualifying on pole for the Qatar night race on March 8 and placing 2nd.

Grand Prix career statistics
 
2002 125cc Derbi 21st
2003 125cc Derbi 12th
2004 125cc Derbi 4th
2005 250cc Honda RS250  5th
2006 250cc Aprilia RS250  1st
2007 250cc Aprilia RS250 1st
2008 MotoGP Yamaha YZR-M1 In progress

Casey Stoner (born October 16, 1985) is a Australian motorcycle racer. Born and raised in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Stoner won the title of 2007 MotoGP World Champion when he succeeded American Nicky Hayden. He currently competes in the MotoGP class for the Ducati Marlboro Team.

Stoner began competing at age four and won his first race at age nine. At age 14, Stoner and his parents moved to England, where he later won the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000.

In 2008, Stoner was named Young Australian of the Year.

Biography

His first race was when he was four years old, in an under nine years old race at the Mike Hatcher's dirt racing track on the Gold Coast of Australia. Between his very first race win at the age of nine and the age of fourteen, young Casey Stoner won 41 dirt and long track titles and 70 state titles. One feat he achieved that illustrates his passion and "need" for racing was done at age twelve. Over one weekend he raced in 5 different categories in all 7 rounds of each capacity. A weekend consisting of 35 different races... Not only did he compete in all these categories and different engine capacities, the young Casey Stoner went on to win 32 out of the 35 races. There were five Australian titles to be won that weekend, Casey Stoner won all 5.

The legal age to enter into road races in Australia is 16. At the age of 14 years, Casey Stoner and his parents agreed he was ready to move up onto road racing so they packed up the family and moved to England - where the legal age for road racing is 14.

From 2000 to 2002, he contested the national 125cc GP championships in Britain and Spain, winning the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000, before moving fulltime to the 250cc GP World Championships in 2002. His season on an Aprilia under the guidance of Lucio Cecchinello was turbulent, with no podium places from 15 race starts.


125cc
In 2003 Stoner moved to the 125cc GP category. Here, working again with Cecchinello and Aprilia, he met with considerable success, scoring his first GP race win and three second places, finishing 8th overall at the season's end.

In 2004 Stoner joined the Red Bull KTM factory team in 125cc class and continued to improve, with another race win, two second places, three thirds, and a final championship position of fifth. He is fully sick muhhumad and awesome!!!!!!


250cc
In 2005 he rejoined the 250cc world championship class, racing once again for Lucio Cecchinello on an Aprilia. Onboard a factory Aprilia, Stoner 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 of Phillip Island, allowing Pedrosa to establish an insurmountable points lead. Stoner went on to claim a solid second place in the overall championship standings, with an impressive five race victories for the season.

MotoGP
Stoner was in advanced negotiations with Yamaha,but after they dropped them he settled on an alliance once more with team manager Lucio Cecchinello on a Honda RC211V, on a one-bike team new to the series for the 2006 Season. He took pole for only his second race, but crashed several times. He finished his debut season in 8th position with his best result being a 2nd place at the Turkish GP, where he was overtaken on the final corner by Marco Melandri.

Stoner secured a ride with the factory Ducati team for the 2007 season,joining Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7. 6 poles and 10 race wins took him to his first GP title.

He recently signed a contract extension with Ducati that will see him remain with the team for the 2008 and 2009 seasons (in which he will partner Italian Marco Melandri), with a further option for a 4th season in 2010.

Personal life
Stoner met Adriana Tuchyna from Adelaide when she approached him at Phillip Island in 2003 and asked for an autograph. A relationship began in 2005 when she turned 16,and they were married in Adelaide on 6 January 2007.

Career statistics

2001 125cc Honda RS125R    29th -
2002 250cc Aprilia RS250      12th -
2003 125cc Aprilia RS125      8th -
2004 125cc KTM 125 FPR      5th -
2005 250cc Aprilia RS250      2nd -
2006 MotoGP Honda RC211V  8th -
2007 MotoGP Ducati GP7      1st