Outgoing MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner has revealed he is facing a year-long recovery period before his badly-injured ankle will return to normal.
The retiring Aussie also said he has been nervous when on track since his return to competition at Twin-Ring Motegi, especially in wet and tricky conditions like today at Valencia even though he managed a podium in his final race.
"I wasn't loose and free like I normally am, I was nervous. Every time I am on the track since I have had this injury I am nervous. I have been warned abiout the difficulties I could have if I injure my foot again in the same way," said Stoner, speaking after the race.
"It's not going to be a couple of months, it's more than a year to recover. I have been critically not crashing and now making mistakes, and with a dry line that wide in some places I was more than nervous.
"I was tense the whole time, trying to ride as fast as I could without pushing any limits. It's disappointing. This is why I wanted a dry weekend. Today was tough. We started with some mis-communication on the pitboard, I was expecting them to tell me when it became dry enough to use slick tyres.
"I wasn't really sure what was going on around me, then Jorge came past on the slicks so already one or two laps before that I could have been on those. We ended up making the right choice but a little bit too late."
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