Estoril MotoGP: Back issue costs Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner’s hopes of returning to winning ways in Estoril were ended in painful fashion during yesterday’s Estoril MotoGP race in Portugal.

Looking to bounce back from the crushing disappointment of his early exit in a controversial incident with Valentino Rossi in Jerez, the 2007 world champion was lying in third place when he suddenly encountered an excruciating pain in his back.

Believed to be a trapped nerve, the issue left Stoner in such discomfort that he contemplated pulling into the pits, but the intense pain eased and the Aussie was able to ride home to a distant third place.

The Repsol Honda rider said: “My back just seemed to pinch a nerve and then I just had searing pain all up my back and I couldn’t move for probably half a lap.

“It just was agony to go from left to right and I couldn’t breathe. And then it sort of loosened up just a little bit and I was able to ride around for the next three or four laps with it still pinching, but not bad.

“It was just sore so I could finish the race and I’m happy to gain some more points, especially after the last race. But to be honest, it was a bit of a frustrating start to the race.

“I got a good start and Dani (Pedrosa) was there and coming across and I had to close the gas. Then I was there with Marco (Simoncelli) going into the first corner, he cut me off so I wasn’t too happy with that.

“And then he crashed in Turn four. I lost the tow to Jorge and Dani and from that point it was pretty much it.

“I was struggling a little bit with rear grip in the early parts of the race on the left side and just couldn’t quite get the good feeling. So during that time, they were both running some pretty good lap times, they just opened the advantage and that was it.

“I was trying to catch and I was running a reasonably consistent pace, but just wasn’t quite fast enough in the early stages of the race.

“The lap times started to come down and then my back just went. I don’t know whether I really could’ve caught them. I was just trying to keep them honest at the same time, keep them under pressure to see what happens.

“We weren’t too far away, but I think it was going to be tough to beat either of them today, they both rode a fantastic race.

For more from Stoner, see the May 4 issue of Motor Cycle News.