Stoner to return but still not fully fit
Added on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Stoner to return but still not fully fit
Ducati have confirmed that Casey Stoner will return to action this weekend at Estoril but the Australian is still far from 100% fit as the illness that has dogged his season remains a mystery.
Stoner will return to action this weekend at the Portuguese Grand Prix after missing the last three rounds of the championship in order to recover from an illness that has blighted his season since Barcelona back in June.
The illness was diagnosed as gastritis and anaemia in California although the 2007 world champion refused to accept that diagnosis. The illness continued to persist however, prompting Stoner to declare himself out of the rounds in Brno, Indianapolis and Misano.
Speculation had circulated around the paddock as to whether Stoner would return to action at all this season, although Ducati persistently denied that Stoner had either requested a longer lay-off, or that there had been a rift between him and the company and team manager Livio Suppo has confirmed that the 22-year-old will race at Estoril.
But Suppo revealed that his main rider is still not in optimum condition, with the illness still not yet determined despite the long break.
“Of course we need to see how he will be in the race and as far as that point goes we don’t really know,” Suppo said.
“For sure his physical condition will not be at the top so we need to keep these races as kind of training for next year and help Casey work on the bike for next year.
“We certainly don’t need to put any big pressure or expectation on Casey.
“It is not about him coming back and winning the next four races. I don’t care about that. We just need to get him back on the bike and make sure he is comfortable.”
