Casey Stoner’s decision not to contest three races left fans not only wondering when he would be back and as speculation ran wild like bush fire, if he would be pulling out of racing altogether, but everyone close to the Aussie rider is insisting he’ll be back.
Livio Suppo, Ducati’s team manager, on the eve if this weekend’s Indy MotoGP race insisted that he is sure that Stoner, who is suffering from a post viral fatigue syndrome, will be strong enough will be back for the Estoril MotoGP round in the begining of October: “The news from Casey is positive, he is getting stronger and I’m sure he will be back at full strength at Estoril.
”While Stoner’s long time personal Australian sponsor Swann Insurance is so sure that he’ll be back that they have launched together with Fox Sports a competition with tickets to the Phillip Island MotoGP racing event and a Swann corporate dinner featuring Stoner.
In this week’s number 34 issue of Motosprint, Colin Young with Enrico Borghi have a been able to get the first interview with Casey Stoner, who talking from his ranch near Tamworth, explains why he felt the need to stop for three races and dismisses any speculation that he is on the outs with Ducati and that he may quit racing altogether.
The interview was no Q&A, and you won’t find any reference to a particular disease or syndrome, only the continuing deep fatigue and mental tiredness and frustration of a rider who cannot come to terms with a second or a third place even if he is physically suffering.
“I haven’t lost my love for bikes and racing and neither for Ducati.
My plan is to return to racing as soon as I get my energy back.
The objective is still to race in Portugal.
”“I would like to carry on racing for a few more years, because racing a bike is what I hope to be doing as soon as possible.
I only have to recover and get back to form that allows me to do that well.
At one point I started having a bad feeling: I felt vulnerable, and I found myself in the position of someone doing something he hates.
It’s like finding yourself doing a job you can’t stand, but that you have to do anyway.
It was a really bad feeling for me, to realise that while I was riding my bike, while I was racing and fighting against my rivals, I was really pushing to the maximum, I was giving it my all, but there was nothing I could do to avoid those results I don’t like.
They are not up to my usual level of performance.
“It was the only possibility I could see.
I convinced myself that I had to detach myself, for a short time but completely, from what I was doing: I had to disconnect myself from racing.
“The most frustrating thing is being unable to ride my bike perfectly.
It’s bad for me, for the team, for Ducati.
This situation is difficult for everyone.
I can make shift and manage injuries, but I can’t manage something I don’t know.
I’m certainly not the first athlete to do that.
I have got to the point that I need rest, because the fatigue has become too much to recover as quickly as it should.
I can’t come to terms with the fact that I can’t ride to the best of my abilities.
The Desmosedici is capable of winning, but I’m not.
At least not at the moment.
That’s why I’ve taken this break: I want to rest, I want to find again the energy to go back doing what I used to do before with this bike.
”
