That was Colin Stoner’s terse response when asked if his son, two-time MotorGP world champion and sometime Niangala resident Casey, had ever regretted his decision to retire from the sport in his prime in 2012.

“Fishing.”

That was Colin’s reply when asked what his now 32-year-old son was doing.

Fishing and helping his wife, Adriana, care for their newborn daughter, Caleya Maria, who arrived weighing 2.6 kilograms on October 6.

Casey tweeted hospital photos of Caleya and his wife, and he later tweeted photos of the couple’s other child, Alessandra, 5, nursing little sis.

On his Twitter profile, he describes himself as an “ex-MotoGP World Champion, keen fisherman and proud dad”.

Colin spoke about Casey’s continuing contentment in quasi-retirement – Casey tweeted pics last month of him testing Ducati’s Desmosedici GP at Circuit de Valencia in Spain – while recently overseeing the development of three of Australia’s best young riders at Oakburn Park Speedway.

That contentment was reflected again in a video Casey tweeted this month of him at a driving range, the smoothness of the swing indicating a serious passion for the sport.

So when asked what Casey was doing, Colin could have answered: “Fishing, being a proud dad, screaming around racetracks on motorcycles and playing golf.”

Colin said Casey divided his time between his homes on the Gold Coast and Niangala.

“He’s still got farms there [Niangala],” said Colin, who used to live in the small town with his wife, Bronwyn, but now resides in Tamworth.

If Casey ever suffered a pang of regret over his decision to retire from MotoGP at age 27, perhaps it came while watching the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix – a race he won six times, including in the year he retired. The 2017 edition of the race is staged on Sunday.

“He never regretted that [retiring],” Colin said.

“He told himself that he’d done what he wanted to do.

“Originally, I remember when he was 15 saying, ‘I’m gonna retire when I’m 25’.

“He made it to 27 without retiring. He was pretty close to the mark.”

Along with former 500cc racer and fellow Tamworthian Mark Willis, Colin mentors young motorcycle racing talent via a training school. 

Casey followed Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan in summiting MotorGP, but no Australian has done it since him.

Colin is hopeful that will change.

“I think I’m more optimistic this year than I was last year,” he said.

“We’ve got a strong batch of kids coming through.”