US MotoGP: Exhausted Casey Stoner vows to fight on

Casey Stoner has vowed to fight on to preserve his world title hopes after the Aussie’s chronic exhaustion problems struck again during opening practice for this weekend’s American MotoGP clash in Laguna Seca.

The Aussie finished a close third behind dominant Fiat Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo but revealed he was again suffering serious fatigue after powering his factory GP9 machine round the spectacular California track in a time of 1.22.170.

That was just 0.189s slower than Rossi and 0.077s adrift of second placed Lorenzo, but the 23-year-old is already casting doubt on whether his ailing physical condition will let him challenge for victory in Sunday’s 32-lap race.

Stoner has been physically drained to the brink of collapse after his third place finishes in Catalunya and Assen recently, and one possible diagnosis is that he is suffering from Epstein-Barr, an illness that causes weakness and exhaustion.

With his bowed down for the majority of his post-session media debrief in the Laguna Seca paddock, Stoner said: “I’ve no idea the reason why I’m getting exhaustion. We still have no insight into what’s going on and there’s just no reason for it. I feel good during the week and then as soon as anything happens, I’m just dead. So until we find this out, I think we’re going to just keep running into the same issue.”

Stoner suspects he might be suffering from Epstein-Barr, a condition that afflicted compatriot Mat Mladin during the 2003 American Superbike season. The symptoms can be treated, but not the virus. Stoner added: “This is already a symptom which I’ve spoken to a doctor that I trust in Australia and they say this is quite possible. I know another football player in Australia that had exactly this and he struggled with it a lot and didn’t realise what it was.

“It took a long time to diagnose, so hopefully with a lot of different ideas running around we can take the right tests and they can come up with exactly what it is because at the moment we’re really struggling with it.”

With no time to recharge his batteries after the Dutch GP in Assen last Saturday, Stoner said the whirlwind trip across the Atlantic had hardly helped his cause. “I’m back to where I was on Saturday in Assen when my energy just went immediately, so there wasn’t a lot I could do.

“I’m taking a few different things this weekend and we’ll just see if we can keep my energy levels up a little bit higher for longer during the race. I feel that these last three tracks we’ve had the pace to at least fight for the win, even if I eventually get the same result.

“But I’m just watching them ride off into the distance and struggling to get around the track myself and keep the rest of the riders behind me. So it’s kind of boring races for me. I’m just sitting there trying to survive.””