Stoner: Fatherhood behind Japanese GP doubts

MotoGP News
Date: 11/August/2011

Casey Stoner has revealed that the 'emotion' of finding out he is to become a father for the first time influenced his hard-line attitude against attending the Japanese Grand Prix.

A month ago, the 2011 title leader shocked the MotoGP world when he bluntly stated "I will not go", in response to radiation fears. The Motegi circuit, due to host this October's race, is just over 100km from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

But upon announcing his wife Adriana's pregnancy at Brno in the Czech Republic on Thursday, the 25-year-old Honda rider also explained that he had used the recent summer break to gather further information about the possible risks.

Stoner said: “There was a period when I felt very strongly that I wasn’t going to go to Japan after things I’d seen and heard. That came from a very strong sense of emotion after we found out that Adriana was pregnant. There was no way I was going to risk my wife or my family.

“In these weeks I’ve taken a lot of data from Australia, people we feel we can trust on the matter, and I’m now slightly more open to it than I was before. I’m not saying that I am going, but I’m not saying that I’m not. So we’ll just have to see what happens in the near future.”

Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo, Stoner's nearest title rival, also seemed to have made up his mind about not racing at Motegi.

However, like Stoner and the other MotoGP riders (many of whom previously signed a petition against holding the race) the Spaniard now says he is yet to make a final decision.

A recent independent report commissioned by the FIM to examine the radiation risk at Motegi concluded that "based on the estimate dose it can be said with no doubt that the radiation risk during the race event is negligible".

"They say it's safe. We hope that's true," commented MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi. "I think we have to wait a little bit for a decision. It's not only about the riders, because many other people in the paddock are not very happy to go to Japan. Sincerely I don’t know yet."

With Japanese-built motorcycles forming 70% of the MotoGP grid - and bearing stickers in support of Japan - any rider boycott of the Japanese Grand Prix will be seen as a major insult.

The Motegi circuit is owned by Honda.