At this stage it looks as though 16 year old Casey Stoner will be Australia's only rider in the World 250 GP Championship.

Originally from Queensland's Gold Coast Casey cut his teeth in junior dirt track and won an amazing 41 championships in the sport before heading to Europe to gain some experience racing on the tar. (NB: There is no avenue for kids under 16 to race on the tar in Australia).

Casey's parents and many others obviously realised the young man had a wealth of talent along with the drive necessary to succeed.  In an amazing show of faith in their boy the Stoner family upped sticks and moved to Europe in order to give Casey the road racing experience he would need to take the next step.

He took to the tar like a duck to water and showed immediate race winning speed.  Casey totally dominated every British 125 GP round he entered in 2001 and also had great showings in the Spanish Championship with a handful of race wins there also.

We were lucky enough to have a quick chat with the 16-year-old this week while he was in Australia and this is a transcript showing some of the topics we covered.

MCNEWS.COM.AU - Leaving your mates behind must have been a bit hard at such a young age, do you catch up with them much when you are back in Australia ?

Casey: Yeah for sure but I have spent some good time with a lot of them during my time back here.  I am a little sad to be leaving again really.  I have a good friend of mine here staying us with right now and we went to Queensland and visited quite a few friends up that way.  It has been great catching them.

MCNEWS.COM.AU: How have you gone with schooling and stuff with basically being on the road for a few years now ?

Casey: We have done home schooling since year 7 but now I am 16 we have finished with a lot of that now.  My job now is full time racing and all of my time will be dedicating to learning as much about that as I can.  The only non-racing learning I aim to do this year is maybe trying to learn a few languages to make things a little bit easier in Europe.

MCNEWS.COM.AU: You have a management tie up with Mick Doohan now. Having Mick in your corner should definitely help to open some doors and get you in front of the right people. Is there more to it than that though ?

Casey: Not really no, Mick's main role is of an adviser and he also ensures I meet the people I need to, which of course in this business is of vital importance.

MCNEWS.COM.AU: Do you think you will get in a position to challenge the leaders during 2002 ?

Casey: I don't really know yet, I will just have to do my absolute best and see where that puts us.  For the start of the season though I do really hope to be in the points, maybe even the top ten.

MCNEWS.COM.AU: I know riding bikes is good fun but what else do you do for enjoyment ?

Casey: Riding push bikes, playing cricket is good and I have been doing a bit of that while I have been back.  I am fairly rusty at the cricket though, but it has been great fun playing it again.

MCNEWS.COM.AU: What about fitness training, what do you do to keep fit ?

Casey: A racing bicycle at the moment.  In Europe I had a mountain bike and did a lot of that but unfortunately the mountain biking seems to build up more muscle than is preferable for a GP rider so over there my main form of exercise is running.

MCNEWS.COM.AU: I understand you are off to Europe again later this week, what is first up on the agenda ?

Casey: We have to get the motor-home sorted out.  I think we have some problems with the battery and a few things to sort out with it when we get there.  Then it is off to Jerez for tests.

MCNEWS.COM.AU: Have you ridden Jerez before ?

Casey: Yep twice before.  Last year I won the final round of the Spanish 125 Championship at Jerez. So hopefully it shouldn't take me too long to get back on the pace.

MCNEWS.COM.AU: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Casey, we wish you all the best this season and will follow your progress with great interest.

Casey: That's okay, I really hope to do well this year, it should be fantastic racing against the world's best. Of course once again the Australian Grand Prix later in the year with all the home support and a good bike will make the event even more special than it was in 2001.

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NB: MCNEWS.COM.AU has followed Casey's progress closely over the past couple of years and aims to follow this exciting young man's career even closer from here on in. We published images of Casey after each British round during 2001 and aim to do the same in 2002.