British MotoGP: Casey Stoner eyes end to frustrating spell

Casey Stoner has admitted he is getting increasingly frustrated that his mystery health issues are preventing him from mounting a stronger challenge to Fiat Yamaha rivals Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

But the 23-year-old is still confident he can claim a third successive victory at Donington Park as he desperately looks to stop an alarming slide in results. Stoner hasn’t finished higher than third place in the last four races, the factory Ducati rider dogged by health issues that have included chronic fatigue.

And with thorough medical checks proving inconclusive in California recently, Stoner said: “I’m just frustrated more than anything. We’re in a period where we’ve found some solutions to the bike that have definitely improved things, so I just need to be able to be feeling a bit better to ride it.

“The last race in Sachsenring was a lot more enjoyable for me because I was at least watching the fight rather than having a ten second gap. I could hang in a little bit longer than before but I think a lot of it was due to the weather being very kind to me. We know this place can keep you nice and cool so I’ll just have to wait and see.”

He added: “In these races I’ve always felt okay but not great. And before a race weekend I used to feel great and confident of reaching a very good level. But at the moment I just feel mediocre and average without a lot of kick in me.

“I want to go into a weekend feeling strong and excited and I haven’t felt that in a while now. When you ride when you’re sick normally it is okay. If you have a head cold at least you know what you have and it doesn’t affect you on the track. But this affects me on the track and not off it. And that makes it more frustrating.

“I’m confident with the bike now and we’ve just got to see what happens over the weekend. This fourth place seems to be stuck on me at the moment and we’ll have to try and improve by one or two positions to move a bit further up.”

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