Casey Stoner back in action this weekend

[Lozza]

The long awaited Ducati Press release has hit inboxes, explaining the 'mystery' illness that caused Casey Stoner to sit out 3 GP's. Much to the disappointment of countless internet forum 'experts' the dianosis was not "Rossi-itis' or an excuse to get out of a watertight contract. The problem was low sodium levels and low blood pressure, combined with  over training. His weight is back up to 60kgs(?) and looking to end what he described as his 'longest ever period of not racing'.
Will make this weekend's GP a bit interesting

FULL STORY HERE

[mx250]

I just hope he 'hits the ground running'. He got a lot of fences to mend including the fans, Ducati and Marlboro. Even allowing for the fact he was suffering mental and physical fatigue he didn't handle the situation well. The best answer for that is a win . If he is at his bet I think he is capable . Here's hoping . 

[Mick22]

Great to see Casey is back. I love watching him race, he has to be one of the most commited races I've ever seen and I mean commited in a racing sence, doesn't matter what bike bike he's on he really chucks the thing in there and just hangs on for the exit great to watch!
I can't imagine the pressure these guys must be under physically and mentally. I was lucky enough to go over and travel around with HRC for a while back in the Doohan era and as much as I had a ball the "Pit Life" did my head in and I was happy to come home. It was hard work being a nobody over there let alone having journo's, sponsors etc etc hassling all day. Unfortunately there is no option these days just to be a great rider, you have to be a great personality, media speaker, negotiator etc etc. Thats what I suspect has done Casey in, not the racing but the lifestyle.

Lets hope he is straight back on the pace, I don't think he has to mend any fences with Ducati though, he still is the most successful modern rider they have had and despite missing 3 races is still the leading Duke in the points.

[VMX247]

quote:I can't imagine the pressure these guys must be under physically and mentally. I was lucky enough to go over and travel around with HRC for a while back in the Doohan era and as much as I had a ball the "Pit Life" did my head in and I was happy to come home. It was hard work being a nobody over there let alone having journo's, sponsors etc etc hassling all day. Unfortunately there is no option these days just to be a great rider, you have to be a great personality, media speaker, negotiator etc etc. Thats what I suspect has done Casey in, not the racing but the lifestyle.
ditto mick22 and those pit girls with very little clothing on     

[Lozza]

I don't see what fence Casey has to mend, Ducati/Livio Suppo have publicly stuck by him through it all. Due to the nature of his forced  withdrawl led to frenzied speculation. If he had a broken arm or leg would Marlboro started thrown money at everyone? IMO Marlboro shot themselves in the arse with the big offers(I bet Jorge was happy) and the public "we want an apology' hissy fit.
How would the situation be handled better ?Hold a press conference and say "I'm going away for a while barramundi fishing?". There was no mental fatigue either that was pure speculation.
He usually fronts up at the first GP or test is on the pace.

[yzhilly]

Shit hot i will be at the island cheering him on,hope he gets back on the pace quick he was awesome there last year . Go Stoner.
hilly

[mx250]

"As expected, Casey Stoner's return to the MotoGP paddock at Estoril generated a genuine media storm. Wisely, the Marlboro Ducati team chose to put on a special press conference in the team hospitality unit, to field questions from the press and provide an explanation of the current situation.

Press debriefs in the Marlboro hospitality unit usually involve a couple of handfuls of journalists and the odd stray photographer, but not so on a hot and humid Thursday afternoon. Almost everyone with a press pass and twenty or so TV crews packed into the shiny red unit, as Livio Suppo, Casey Stoner and Filippo Preziosi faced the media.

Team boss Suppo opened the session, welcoming the prodigal Stoner back to the Ducati fold. "Today is a very good day for us. Casey's back." Suppo said. He then went on to express his support, saying "We understood the situation and we totally support Casey."

Suppo then turned to his rider, and Casey Stoner - looking fairly healthy and much more relaxed than he did at Donington in July - proceeded to explain what had happened, and why he had chosen to miss three full rounds of MotoGP. Stoner made it clear from the outset that it had not been easy: "For me it was a very difficult decision to make," Stoner told the media. "Basically we went back to Australia after Donington just to get an understanding of what's going on, to see some more doctors and hopefully go in the right direction. We were planning to come back after Brno, but unfortunately we didn't find any solutions in the short time available. And we had many recommendations from my doctors, and my wife, my father said enough, you've got to have a time out. So the decision was made just to spend three races away. There was never going to be more races away than those three, and already for me, missing those three was a really tough decision. It was a decision that I wasn't forced into but was highly recommended to take by everyone."

Stoner went on to say he had spent all his time consulting his doctors. "During this period we did everything we could, from seeing the right doctors to doing the right things, being on the right diet, to try and increase the levels which the blood tests were showing was a little bit low. So we will just have to see over this weekend how I perform, and how things compare with the last tests."

Stoner emphasized that the team had been fully behind him. "Everyone's been doing the best job that they can, including myself," he said, and added that he had been apologizing to his team since the race at Barcelona for not being able to be competitive. Stoner then went on to apologize formally to his team. "My first apology is to my team, to everyone. Hopefully we can come back this weekend in a positive frame of mind and be competitive again. I've been away too long from the bike, and I really miss it."

Stoner also revealed that he had found it immensely difficult to miss the races, so much so that he couldn't bear to watch them on TV. "I didn't want to watch the races, I just wanted to find out the results, it was too hard to watch" he said. "Even now, it feels like I've missed out on so much."

Stoner spoke of some of the avenues the doctors explored in trying to get to the bottom of his problems. "We went off lactose, we went off gluten for two or three weeks, to try and get a reaction from that. Unfortunately, medical things take some time to understand them. You need to get things out of your system before you can get other things in your system to see if it works. We've found recently that I've had quite low blood pressure and low sodium levels so we're trying to increase that to see if that helps. We might have found something with lactose, a lactose intolerance to some degree, so I've gone off lactose to see if that helps." Previous tests for lactose intolerance had been inconclusive, due to Stoner coming down with the flu directly after switching back to eating foods containing lactose, making a proper diagnosis impossible.

Stoner dismissed rumors that a bad diet may have contributed to his illness. "We haven't changed my diet because I already had a good diet before, but we're trying to change it to put things in my diet that will put something in my system to help me pick myself up again."

When asked how he had spent his time away, Stoner said that it had been a mixture of rest and light exercise. "For the first month there was complete rest, there was no physical exercise at all," Stoner told the media. "After that we started training lightly on the bike again, I was out there with my trainer, and we did a good week or so training. Basically just light stuff, just to keep the muscles working, because after so long off the bike, the muscles are going to be sore and tired. After the exercise, we still found the same problems, I was still running into that wall, and we couldn't fix it."

"We had a lot of doctors on the case, they can see the problem. We had heart tests as well, because they thought my heart might not have been working properly and I could have had a heart failure, and they can see that in my fitness level just drops off after a certain degree. My heart rate won't go above a certain level, even when I'm pushing it. So we're looking to see if there's something which isn't being absorbed enough in my diet."

The good news was that Stoner was starting to sense some improvement. "I myself feel better, day to day even, and really we'll just have to wait to get out on the bike to see if it has improved. I think even with this track, we should be at a better level than at the earlier races."

Stoner mocked rumors of his retirement, saying that he had laughed at how quickly they had appeared. "I heard on day 3 of Brno that I was retiring," he said. "It's pretty immature of people to spread these rumors." His intention, he kept repeating, was only ever to take 3 races off. "I am looking forward to my future, especially if we can sort this out," Stoner replied to questions about his motivation to continue. "I'm looking forward to this weekend, because it's been too hard to be away from racing. It only takes you a couple of weeks away from racing to realize that this is what you really want to do and what you want to get back to doing."

Stoner also dismissed rumors of problems between himself and Ducati. Stoner told the assembled media that it had been his decision to handle the situation as they did, and concentrate on getting better in Australia without assistance from Ducati. "It's difficult for people over here to understand that being away from the sport meant I had to be away from the sport. I had to sort this out on my own. If I'm not here racing, what reason would there be for me to be in contact with the media and everyone here?"

Nor had he been upset by Ducati's approach to Jorge Lorenzo. "It's understandable," Stoner said. "It was no problem for me. There was an opportunity there, I'm sure a lot of riders were speaking to a lot of teams; it was that part of the season." But Stoner was clear on where he wanted to stay: "Ducati know I'm happy here, and they know I'm happy with the work they've been doing."

He also explained that part of the lack of communication was down to the remoteness of Stoner's house in Australia. "Mobile phones don't work where I live," he said. "So I was out of contact with everyone until the doctors appointments."

When asked whether his problems could have been caused by stress, Stoner replied that he did not believe this was the case. Any stress he may suffer, he said, was solely down to the pressure he puts on himself, one factor which the doctors did identify. "They said over-training, things like this. Maybe pushing myself too hard," Stoner conceded. "My biggest critic is myself. All the pressure comes from me, I don't feel pressure from elsewhere. If I'm not getting results, the biggest problem I have is myself. I'm disappointed in myself. This is what confuses some people; when I'm interviewed after the races, even when I win, when I don't look so happy it's not that I'm not happy, it's that I'm disappointed that I made a mistake or I don't believe I rode the best race I could. This is the only criticism that I could have. It's definitely not a problem of pressure.""

http://www.motomatters.com/news/2009/10/01/the_stoner_press_conference_i_ve_been_aw.html

[VMX247]

thanks mx250..
Casey is hard on himself.Hopefully the break has done him the world of good 
cheers

[mx250]

thanks mx250..
Casey is hard on himself.Hopefully the break has done him the world of good 
cheers

Seems a pretty frank, honest and informative interview - typical of Casey. One of the reason I respect him so much.

The most effective way to silence the critics (mainly those freaking moronic Pommy gits ) is a strong performance. Bring it on Casey, bring it on .

[mx250]

"True to his word, Casey Stoner returned to the paddock this afternoon. He looked happy, and a little heavier than when we last saw him, but the mystery of his physical condition is still there.

Casey has seen an array of doctors, been tested for everything from heart problems to lactose intolerance, yet still there are no solid answers. This, reckons Casey, is because there is no one single factor that has caused him to hit the proverbial wall mid-race. He emphasized time and time again that it was his decision to take the break, he has now not ridden a bike for nine weeks. Phrases like "I wasn't doing enough", "it's my problem, I need to fix it," "we had the bike, I didn't have the stamina," and "it seems like I'm useless" peppered a good-natured press conference that went on for what seems like hours but went over the same ground repeatedly.

The condition persisted back in Australia even after a month of complete rest, light training would bring on the symptoms. However, Casey reported that in the last week and a half things have improved considerably. He also refused to be riled by Ducati's contacts with Jorge Lorenzo, describing them as "understandable."

Casey couldn't resist having a dig at the press for some of the wilder rumors that circulated and made the point forcibly that he has a real, physical problem, not a stress-related condition. He also said he didn't watch the races he missed on TV, largely because he doesn't have TV or a mobile phone where he lives.

To show how happy they are to have him back, Ducati have accelerated development of a new fairing which will now be debuted this weekend rather than in Phillip Island. "This is the way of engineers," said Fillipo Prezioso, "to give fairings not flowers.'

The other big news is the arrival of Team Texas at Tech 3 Yamaha next year. Nicky Hayden's view is that Spies "belongs in MotoGP."

"Another great rival for next season," said Valentino who admitted to being surprised that Ben was coming but agreed it was the right decision. Jorge Lorenzo agreed: "Class, a very strong character." However, the general warning was don't expect to do here what you've done in Superbike.

Finally, someone asked Rossi why F1 gets a much bigger audience than bikes. "A lot of people watch F1,' said Vale, "but more than half are asleep." Cue laughter."

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Oct/091001-ridernotes.htm

[vmx42]

Go Casey Go!!!
Do it your way and bugger the detractors, your not out of the cookie cutter mould that they seem to crave, and good on you. Who cares if the press don't understand, they have such limited imaginations that if it isn't spelt out in black and white they can't digest it. Their problem, not yours.

Remember that the press had similar problems [their words not mine] in understanding both Gardner and Doohan.

The press want their cake and eat it too. They want the riders to be happy and joking and go out of their way to supply material for their publications - heaven forbid that a rider should show preference to their actual job on the track. But then if a rider does give them what they want and then has a few bad races then they turn on them in a flash.

The strong minded riders do their talking on the track and keep the media at arms length as they know it is impossible to satisfy its insatiable appetite. They are paid to race, it is what they do best, so let them get on with it.

As Doohan has shown, even the most prickly rider can show his true personality after he retires.
Go stick it up them [like a big black dog] Casey.
I can't wait,
VMX42

[Lozza]

effective way to silence the critics (mainly those freaking moronic Pommy gits)

not to mention a few Australian's with the Tall Poppy gene.
I read where someone pointed out legend Eddie Lawson's similar demeanor but he never polorised opinions like Casey Stoner, Casey's only failing is he came after( subsequently dethroned and matched him in 'psy-ops' ) Valentino Rossi.
Can't wait for Sunday night

[TT]

I think anyone that achieves that level of performance in their chosen sport, deserves respect.
I also think Casey hasn't ever been particularly mentally strong but I also think some age and experience might help that along.
It was also good to hear Valentino say that he was pleased to see Casey back and that Moto GP missed him. Whether he meant it or not is another thing, but it was nice of him to say it. 

[Lozza]

Maybe Valentino is having second thoughts now, after first quali RESULTS

[Lozza]

If you missed the result I won't spoil it for you but suffice to say NEVER seen the Ducati ridden that agressively before.Casey also answered a few critics about his layoff HERE