All eyes on Stoner as MotoGP arrives in Australia

MotoGP News
Date: 25/October/2012

Casey Stoner will be chasing a sixth successive home win at Phillip Island in Australia this weekend, during his penultimate MotoGP race before retirement and at a track that named a corner in his honour on Thursday.

Unfortunately for the almost mythically talent 27-year-old, the only rider to win dry races for Ducati since 2007 and then champion for a second time after moving to Honda last year, even he cannot defeat medical science.

Stoner suffered ankle ligament and bone damage during a huge crash in qualifying at Indianapolis in August, forcing him to head for surgery - after finishing fourth in the race.

The straight-talking Australian missed three events following the operation, but said he would be at Phillip Island if they had to duct tape him onto the bike. And since Australia was the last of three consecutive races, Stoner thought he’d enter the Japanese and Malaysian rounds to help prepare for his homecoming.

Unfortunately, the past two rounds have proven to Stoner just how much healing is still required to regain full movement in his ankle, while his overall physical strength has also been sapped by a lack of training.

Fifth at Motegi was followed by third in the red-flagged Sepang monsoon and the big question is, can Stoner achieve a perfect home farewell with a record sixth win?

“It’s the last time I’m going to be racing here and there are only two races to go in my career. So it’s a big weekend,” confessed Stoner. “I’m still going attack it exactly as I have always done and in a lot of ways it’s no different than any other weekend, except that I really love this track.

 “We’ve managed five wins in a row, which is fantastic, but I’m not going to start the weekend expecting anything. We’ll just wait and see.

“The ankle is actually worse than when I first came back in Japan. I’m having a lot more trouble just getting around on it, but I don’t think it will affect me on the bike. The biggest issue is flexibility in the ankle and fortunately there are not too many right hand corners here. The main fitness problem I’m having is just endurance.”

On having turn three - a fast downhill left-hander which MotoGP riders hit at over 250km/h - named in his honour, Stoner added: “It’s got to be one of my favourite turns. It’s very quick and to have it named after me was something very, very special. I really appreciate it and it’s a great honour for me.”

Stoner is only the third rider to have a corner at the spectacular seaside circuit named after him, following fellow Australian premier-class champions’ Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan.

“No-one has set Phillip Island alight, and thrilled our fans, time and time again like Casey," declared Circuit chief Fergus Cameron.

Stoner looks set to finish his final MotoGP season third in the Championship, while Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) start this weekend separated by 23-points at the top of the standings.