Stoner delighted to silence critics with Estoril showing
Added on Monday, October 5th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Stoner delighted to silence critics with Estoril showing
Casey Stoner put in a superb performance that suggested that he’d never been away as he finished second on his return to action at Estoril.
The Australian, who took a three-round sabbatical from MotoGP due to a still undetermined illness, rode a superb race in Portugal to finish second behind Jorge Lorenzo, despite not having trained for nine weeks.
And whilst still not in peak physical condition and after more than two months of criticism an speculation, the plaudits were heaped on the 2007 champion as he secured his first podium since Assen back in June despite a broken footpeg.
“It is great to be competitive again and to stay that way right to the end of the race,” said the Ducati rider. “I maybe could have been faster over the opening few laps but I made a little mistake, which caused my foot to slip off the peg. It broke the footrest support and it was moving around in all the right-handers, so my foot was slipping off. As the laps went by I was able to alter the footpeg position a little but I wasn’t able to go any faster.
“Obviously Jorge was too fast for us today and he did a fantastic job but I’m still really happy today for myself and for the team. It is brilliant to come back like this and I think it shows that the decision to take a break and tackle a physical problem that was really making it impossible for us was the right choice.
“Like I said I’m happy for the team because it has also been a difficult period for them. My relationship with Ducati, built over the past three years, has always been strong and solid. Now I’ll try and start training a little before the next race because over the last few months my physical condition has suffered and I need to try and get some muscle back. The target for the next few races is for me and the team to prepare as well as we can for next season.”
