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Casey Stoner: “It’s Pretty Much Finished Our Championship”

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After the announcement that Casey Stoner would be flying back to Australia for surgery on his injured ankle, effectively ruling him out of contention for the 2012 MotoGP title, the Repsol Honda team organized a press conference to give Stoner the opportunity to explain his decision. The decision had not been an easy one, as Stoner had initially been intending to race at Brno, but a phone call from his doctors in Australia convinced him it would be too dangerous, as a crash could see him suffer permanent damage. It would be better to return to Australia, have surgery, and try to be fit enough to race again later in the year, with the goal being to return before Phillip Island to be as competitive as possible there.

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MotoGP: Casey Stoner to Undergo Surgery on Ankle – Out for the Czech GP at Brno

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Casey Stoner is to return to Australia to have surgery on the ankle he damaged in the qualifying crash at Indianapolis. After studying the MRI scans made in Indianapolis, Stoner’s Australia doctors have advised him he needs surgery to correct the damaged ligaments he tore at Indy.

The move means that Stoner will definitely miss this weekend’s Czech Grand Prix at Brno. How quickly the reigning World Champion will return is uncertain, though the surgery will require several weeks to recover. Already 39 points behind Jorge Lorenzo in the title race, missing Brno will put Stoner at an almost insurmountable disadvantage in the defense of his championship.

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MotoGP: Nicky Hayden Ruled Out of Czech GP

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Nicky Hayden is to miss the Brno round of MotoGP. The American fractured a couple of bones in his right hand and suffered a concussion in a big crash at Indianapolis, highsiding his Ducati Desmosedici during qualifying on Saturday. Hayden’s injuries meant that he was unable to race at Indianapolis, and after consulting with doctors and the team, Hayden has been forced to pull out of Brno as well.

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MotoGP: Casey Stoner to Race at Indy Despite Injury

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Dani Pedrosa said it best during Saturday’s press conference when he told the assembled press that Casey Stoner is one tough racer, and if he was able to ride on Sunday, he would be fast. Seen in the pit box this morning hobbling on crutches to and fro, Stoner was sixth quickest in the warm-up session — Dani might just be right.

Over half a second back from the injured Ben Spies, who lead the session, Stoner’s position may not reflect the blistering pace we are accustomed to seeing from the reigning-World Champion, but considering the Australian tore a number of ligaments, along with a series of fractures in his ankle, tibia, and fibula, we would say that we are fairly impressed with Casey’s pace so far today.

After getting cleared by MotoGP medical staff this morning, Stoner’s warm-up session also confirmed his personal desire to race in the Indianapolis GP. The Repsol Honda team has now issued a press release starting Stoner’s official participation in Red Bull Indianapolis GP. Read it after the jump.

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MotoGP: Nicky Hayden Not Racing in Indianapolis GP

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UPDATE: The news unfortunately seems to be official. Hayden will miss racing in the Indy GP.

One of three riders to crash hard in Saturday’s MotoGP qualifying session, Nicky Hayden’s participation in his home Grand Prix seems very unlikely after his high-side in the final turn at the IMS road course. Flying high and landing hard, Hayden was knocked unconscious by the crash, and was said to be incoherent after the crash.

Suffering an injury to his hand as well as his head, Hayden’s arm was x-rayed and his head was CAT scanned. While the CAT scan came back negative, the x-rays showed Hayden had suffered two small fractures to his right hand. Because of those injuries he has been ruled unfit to ride in tomorrow’s race.

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MotoGP: Casey Stoner Questionable for Indianapolis GP

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UPDATE: An MRI has confirmed the ligament damage to Stoner’s ankle, but has also determined that his foot and leg is not fractured. He will undergo further tests before he is to be declared fit, or unfit, to race.

With only eight minutes on the clock for MotoGP’s qualifying session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Casey Stoner found himself on the wrong side of a nasty high-side crash, which ultimately sent the Repsol Honda rider into Indy’s medical center. Stretchered off the red-flagged track, Stoner has a suspected torn ligament in his right foot, which will surely dash his hopes for competing at the Indianapolis GP.

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MotoGP: Hector Barbera Fractures Vertebrae at Indy

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Hector Barbera will be forced to miss the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, after suffering a back injury during the morning session of Friday’s free practice for the MotoGP class. Barbera suffered a nasty highside at Turn 16, his rear wheel appearing to catch on a section of track which appeared still to be dirty, and in the ensuing crash, Barbera landed on his neck and fractured three dorsal vertebrae, D5, D6 and D8. He was taken to the local Indianapolis Methodist Hospital, and has been ruled unfit to race.

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MotoGP: Barbera Breaks Leg Training — Elias in at Pramac

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Breaking his left leg (fibula & tibia) during a training accident, Pramac Ducati’s Hector Barbera will be unable to ride for the next four to six weeks. Missing MotoGP’s stops at Laguna Seca and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pramac will replace Barbera with two-time former-MotoGP racer, Toni Elias.

Replacing his fellow countryman at the Laguna Seca round, and likely at the Indianapolis round as well, Elias himself has some interesting news, as the former-Moto2 Champion was ousted from his Moto2 ride on the Mapfre Aspar team. Elias’s results during his return to Moto2 have been anything but impressive so far this season, especially after his dominant Championship win in 2010.

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MotoGP: Battaini Will Replace Karel Abraham at German GP

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Ducati test rider Franco Battaini has been tapped to take the place of Cardion AB Ducati’s Karel Abraham, who injured his hand during at crash at the Catalunya test. Sitting out the British GP and Dutch TT, Abraham will also be unfit to ride at Sachsenring, thus causing his team to have to find a replacement rider.

This last news is just one of many blows to Abraham’s season, as the 2012 MotoGP Championship has been a rough one for the young Czech rider, who with a bevy of crashes, has only finished in the points once.

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Bikes

Up-Close with Ian Hutchinson’s Swan Yamaha R1 Superbike

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Ian Hutchinson may not be a household name here in the United States, but over on the Isle of Man, “Hutchy” is a pretty big deal. Winning five solo-class races in the 2010 season, the English rider’s hot-streak was cut short after a tragic closed circuit racing accident, which saw him sidelined for the 2011 TT fortnight.

Suffering another leg injury going into the 2012 racing season, Hutchinson was still physically not 100% as he headed to the TT, with the Swan Racing Team making obvious adjustments to his Yamaha YZF-R1 to accommodate Hutchy’s injured leg.

While Hutchinson would ride through the pain, he was noticeably off the pace during this last TT meeting.

While a large component of those results are surely products of his physical state, where were compound by the fact that his practice and racing schedule has been truncated, many also wondered about Hutchinson’s mental state as well.

Twice beaten, once shy, one Swan team member explained to me that when you looked into the his eyes as he got on board the bike, there was something there that didn’t exist before in Hutchy’s eyes. “Fear?” I asked. The team member wouldn’t comment further.

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IOMTT: Conor Cummins Fit to Race in Senior TT

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Manxies will rejoice to the news that local-man Conor Cummins has been declared fit enough to race in Friday’s Senior TT at the 2012 Isle of Man TT. Caught in a crash during the North West 200 with Gary Johnson, Cummins has been on the sidelines of the Isle of Man TT fortnight with an injury to his right hand. The Tyco Suzuki rider’s appearance at the blue ribbon race will be a boon to the BSB team, as so far Cummins’ teammate Guy Martin has been unable to put the Suzukis on the podium.

Though Cummins had circulated during some of the practice sessions, Cummins has sat out all of the solo races thus far at the TT, much to the disappoint of his home crowd. Spending some time in a hyperbaric chamber and doing some physiotherapy, Cummins has been able to heal enough over the past week in order to salvage his Isle of Man TT outing, and put down a 125 mph lap during the Senior TT qualifying.

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