Casey Stoner’s recent mystery illness has been diagnosed as slight gastritis and mild anaemia but the Australian has vowed to battle for the remainder of the 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship.
The 2007 champion finished fourth at Laguna Seca last time out despite a heavy crash in qualifying which compounded his fitness problems, and afterwards remained in the States to undergo medical tests to determine the cause of the problem.
Stoner is just 16 points behind championship leader Valentino Rossi heading into this weekend’s race in Germany but he insists another podium finish is his target despite his health problems.
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Stoner said: “I have been in the USA until Saturday to do all the tests. First of all I’d like to thank all the doctors involved in this. Dr Ting and Dr Tuan in the Fremont Surgery Center, Dr Macchiagodena, Dr Catani, Dr Ceccarelli and of course my physiotherapist Freddy. Hopefully step by step I will feel better with their indications. The Associated Press
Having been diagnosed with slight gastritis and mild anaemia, Stoner stated, “I have been in USA until Saturday to do all the tests. First of all I’d like to thank all the Doctors involved in this, Dr. Ting and Dr. Tuan in the Fremont Surgery Center, Dr. Macchiagodena, Dr. Catani, Dr. Ceccarelli and of course my physiotherapist Freddy. Hopefully step by step I will feel better with their indications.”
“I still don’t feel like I am 100% but the biggest problem now is that my ribs are very painful after the crash in qualifying in the U.S. It will be probably another hard weekend in Germany, but as always, we will do our best to stay as much as possible close to the lead of the Championship.” MotoGP.com
“It will be probably another hard weekend in Germany, but as always, we will do our best to stay as much as possible close to the lead of the championship.”
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Ducati’s MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo said: “This is a delicate time for Casey but we know he is made of stern stuff. He will continue to fight like a lion, as he has done in the past few races, even though the crash at Laguna left its mark on him and that certainly won?t help.” AFP
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