Stoner needs more than speed as injury hits
Added on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Stoner needs more than speed as injury hits
Casey Stoner has admitted that speed is not enough if he is to keep his slim MotoGP title hopes alive this weekend at Indianapolis.
The Australian rider has had a terrible time as of late, picking up just 20 points from a possible 75 in the last three rounds after crashing out at both Brno and Misano in recent weeks to hand a 75-point lead to Valentino Rossi in the riders championship with just five rounds remaining.
With the MotoGP in Indianapolis for the first time this weekend, the defending World Champion hopes to improve on the last time that he was in the States when he finished second behind Rossi in an epic battle at Laguna Seca.
Stoner and Rossi jostled for the lead throughout in the US Grand Prix back in July in perhaps the best demonstration of the out-and-out power of the Ducati in comparison to the all-round ability of Rossi’s Yamaha before Stoner misjudged a late bend to give his Italian rival an unassailable lead
Speaking ahead of his first visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Stoner acknowledged that whilst the Ducati was fast, there were still problems for him and the team.
“Obviously I’m not happy with the results of the last few races,” he admitted. “We have proved that we are consistently fast but that clearly isn’t enough.
“I know that I have got the support of a great team and a bike I have a great feeling with. I’m going to try to enjoy riding it over the final few races, which all take place at circuits I like a lot.”
One of the problems appears to be the recurrence of scaphoid injury sustained five years ago.
“I also have to think about the scaphoid that we thought had healed back in 2003 but is still giving me problems,” claimed the 22-year-old. “For the time being I have to deal with it but we’re talking to the doctors about what to do with it in the future.
“I can’t wait to go back to America and race at Indianapolis, a circuit nobody knows but where I am sure our bike and tyres will work just as well as they have done at the last few races.”
Speaking about the injury, Team Manager Livio Suppo added: “We’re hoping that the problems he had with his wrist at Misano don’t prevent him from riding at his maximum this weekend.
“Casey underwent a CAT scan last week, which showed that the scaphoid he fractured and had operated on back in 2003 has never completely healed. With the support of a pool of doctors over the next few weeks, Casey will decide if another operation is going to be necessary.”
