The medical staff strapped his ankle for protection through the night and the Australian left the hospital at midnight. He will consult with the medical team before the race to assess the situation and decide if he is able to ride the machine safely.
Casey Stoner
"It's the first time in my career that I haven't been able to get up and walk away from an accident myself. As soon as I stood up, I looked down and saw my foot was at a strange angle to my leg. I had a shooting pain in my lower leg, then I felt a crack as my ankle popped back in. It was very painful and I was sure I had broken something. The local staff at the circuit Medical Centre were all very helpful and after taking some initial x-rays they agreed I should go to hospital for further checks. The team that looked after me at the Methodist Hospital were fantastic, so professional, attentive and incredibly helpful, I'd like to thank them all for taking good care of me. They confirmed that I had some chipped bone around my ankle and a small fracture, but I was concerned about the damage done to any ligaments so we did an MRI scan. This showed that I had torn almost every ligament in my ankle and heavily bruised my tibia. I need to see how I feel tomorrow morning to understand if I'm able to race. I am really disappointed as I felt we had the package for pole in this race and a strong chance for the win. Many other riders came off today, I hope they are ok. We'll see how we feel in the morning and will do all we can to be on the grid."
Press release courtesy of Repsol Honda Team.
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