Marlboro to Casey Stoner: “Have the Decency to Apologize!”
Just as Casey Stoner is about to return from sick leave and rejoin the MotoGP series at this weekend’s Portuguese GP at Estoril, the rumors swirling around the Australian Marlboro Ducati racer and 2007 World Champion have suddenly intensified as a senior Marlboro executive has called upon Stoner to apologize to the team for his absence.
It didn’t take long following Stoner’s shock announcement of his 3 race sabbatical from the series in August following a mystery energy sapping illness for the rumors to swirl around the paddock. Various threads involved him being sick of MotoGP racing, sick of at least the corporate requirements of being a lead rider that could see him out: for the rest of the season / all of 2010 / for good (delete as applicable).
Another meme was a rift in the team itself, especially from principal sponsor Marlboro and resulted in the very public and aggressive courting of first Loris Capriossi, then Jorge Lorenzo and even Dani Pedrosa to ride in 2010. Proving that there is something to this are the rather embarrassing comments of Marlboro senior executive, Maurizio Arrivabene, who has openly criticized Stoner ahead of his return to racing.
Recently Maurizio Arrivabene stated he hopes “Stoner has the decency to apologize to the team in Portugal.” Arrivabene goes on to chastise the GP rider by saying that ”there are many of Ducati’s Borgo Panigale employees who wouldn’t stay at home with a stomach ache, especially in times of economic crisis.”
link: Asphalt & Rubber
All of this flies in the face of efforts from the team itself to calm speculation and declare all to be well. Stoner has quietly returned to Europe and the team is trying to manage expectations by talking down his potential achievements at Estoril.
“Casey arrived in Switzerland on Monday morning so everything is under control,” said Ducati team boss Livio Suppo. “Now we have to go to Estoril and try and have a normal weekend. Casey has been out for some time so we cannot expect too much, keeping in mind he has not been able to do his regular training so he will not be 100 per cent. I don’t think anyone should expect he could dominate the race in Estoril. For sure Casey will be fast in a single lap but no one knows how he will be able to manage his energy over the race distance.”
Despite the controversy Stoner remains one of the fabulous four who routinely can run at the front of the pack and will be welcomed back by fans and his peers alike (Rossi, Pedrosa and Lorenzo). Not one to miss a quick quip, Rossi commented:
“I am waiting for Casey to return and hope that he is strong and fast, but not faster than before”
link: Fox Sports
After all the mystery the first official release in some time from Ducati Corse provides no real insight into what ails Casey. Medical testing ruled out pathological anomalies of cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological origin. The exams and inspections also failed to show up any kind of virus or infection. All that was found was a low sodium level and low blood pressure (fixing the first would help the other). Seems that Casey should have said ‘Yes’ more often when he was asked ‘You Want Fries with that’! Nevertheless Stoner is back which can only be a good thing.
Casey Stoner:- “I’m definitely looking forward to the race weekend. Having three races off is the biggest period away from racing in my life. It was very difficult to accept the advice of the doctors to stop racing. In the past I have raced even when injured, like in the last few races of the 2008 season when my wrist was broken, but this time it was really not possible and of course I felt very sorry for the team. Now I’m looking forward to getting back together with the team and everyone and I hope I’ll be able to be more competitive than I was in the past, but we will have to wait and see. The doctors have put me on some salt tablets to increase my sodium levels but we will have to see if it helps. We will understand more during the weekend. Of course it’s going to be difficult: at first we won’t know if it will work because I’ve been off the bike so long that in any case my muscles will take some time to get race fit again. But, as I said, I’m looking forward to getting back and to starting work on the bike, looking towards the future.”
link: Ducati Corse
We only have a few days to wait to see how fast Stoner is and whether he can now maintain his normal blistering pace over full race distance. One things for sure, Arrivabene’s comments will hardly help. While we wait, here is the MotoGP welcome back Casey video.
Want More?
Read More Posts on Casey Stoner
Try These Related Posts:
