MotoGP: No shoulder concern for Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner will start the defence of his MotoGP crown on Sunday night in Qatar with no injury concerns on his left shoulder.

The factory Ducati rider damaged ligaments in his left shoulder in the second of two big crashes on his first appearance on the new Ducati GP8 machine in Jerez last November.

The injury was still causing him some discomfort during the first two tests of 2008 in Sepang and Phillip Island.

But after posting the best time on race tyres during last week’s two-night test session in Qatar, Casey Stoner declared himself 100 per cent fit and raring to go.

The Aussie, who claimed the first of his 10 wins in a dominant 2007 in Qatar 12 months ago, said: “It’s 100 per cent.

“I’m very, very happy with this. Everybody was making a lot of rumours because I didn’t do a long run in the first test.

“I tried but I had some complications with the bike. In the first two tests the shoulder did get very tired but I just needed time to build up the strength and now it is 100 per cent.”