Casey Stoner ready to step up training

Former MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner will step up his pre-season training campaign after he topped the timesheets at last week’s Sepang test in Malaysia.

The Aussie cast aside the constant pain of his recovering left wrist to edge out Italian duo Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi in Sepang in his first track action for three months.

Stoner was still a little concerned with a lack of sideways movement in his left wrist in the Far East and he’s pledged to increase his training schedule ahead of his next appearance in Qatar next month.

Stoner, who has been undergoing intensive physiotherapy since he had a bone graft operation in early November, said: “I’ve tried physio and it doesn’t seem to be getting anymore movement, so that’s why I think I need to be a bit more aggressive with it now and push my training.

“I know the bone has healed well so I’ve just got to try and push it and see if I can get that movement back. Once the movement comes the pain barrier will move to another point and I might not have to reach that point.

“As soon as it stops movement in any one direction that’s where the pain starts, so basically I just need to get more movement.”