Casey Stoner has announced that he will undergo surgery on his broken ankle in Australia this week, rather than risk permanent injury and continue racing. Stoner injured his ankle during a qualifying crash at Indianapolis last weekend, but managed to race the following day to a fourth place finish.
Stoner said he hopes to return one or two races prior to the penultimate MotoGP round at Phillip Island, but the resulting loss in points completely eliminates his chances of retiring as the current MotoGP champ. At this point, it looks like the 2012 title will be won by either current points leader Jorge Lorenzo or Stoner’s teammate Dani Pedrosa.
sorry to hear about something like this. Especially in his last year. Perhaps he might reconsider and give a season with a healthy body a go to see how he does.
Speedy recovery Stoner!
A year ago(July) I had an ankle break on my left leg that put me out from riding for the rest of the summer on the street !!! Like Stoner I used the broken ankle(actually chipped bone on my lower shin) so that just exasperated the problem. As soon as I heard what happened to Stoner I figured he was out probably for the rest of the season. As a rider you can hope for more but at this point your body’s recovery is out of your hands/wishes.
Motors boys, Jorge is running out of them. Dorna’s forsight has limited teams from working on the engine. Dani is on his way.
Pedrosa has the speed but Lorenzo has the edge in talent and consistency. My bet is on Lorenzo, but if Pedrosa rides under control and can steer clear of the reckless mistakes he’s made in the past, he could pull it off. He’s shown more riding maturity than I’ve ever seen from him this year, so he may well be able to maintain that consistency all season.
I vote it’s Pedrosa’s year
2012 will likely go down as the worst year in the (admittedly brief) history of MotoGP racing.
re: “2012 will likely go down as the worst year in the (admittedly brief) history of MotoGP racing.”
ummnn, you wanna try that again…? paolo and rossella beg to differ.
?
ssshhh, don’t say anything else. at this point don’t waste time googling those names… google MIRANDA RIGHTS…!!!
“you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you.”
Daijiro Kato’s parents would also beg to differ, but that’s a discussion for a different day.
I’m only talking about the quality of the racing, which, at least until today’s classic fight at the front, has been dismally boring.
Pedro might have a chance this year, but I feel like it’s Lorenzo’s time again. Jorge admitted he wasn’t going to be very fast at Indy especially with so many left hand turns. Even Stoner said that they don’t have chatter issues when going left (which seems bizarre to me). I think Lorenzo will turn the heat up.
Stoner didn’t have a chance to defend the championship IMO regardless of the ankle. Jorge and Little Dani are just racing too well.
And yes, Honda has to supply a replacement rider if their regular rider misses more than one race – they can’t have an empty paddock for two consecutive races, Dorna rules.
<<<<<<>>>>>>>
With Marquez on the Repsol team next year, I think this is Pedrosa’s moment to seize control and win the championship this year. Should be (somewhat) interesting. I wonder if anyone else will get to ride Stoner’s bike while he is out?