MotoGP full of ‘puppets’ says Stoner
Stoner has battle scars all over his body. "I broke my scaphoid, which is probably my worst injury other than my wrist and ankle," Stoner said.
"I have broken my collarbone twice in a year. That is about it for bones. I had a compression hit in my back when a rider missed a gear in front of me. He took me off track and I hit a hay bale and jacked all my back bones together. I have a leaking disc now and that causes some havoc. It locks up sometimes and I can't move an inch for an hour or so when that happens. I just have to lay there, helpless."
Stoner also claimed that he was constantly riding with fear.
"There is always fear there," Stoner said. "There have been a couple over the years with no fear, and it isn't a nice thing to ride against them. Scary.
"Most of us have fear and we don't like to crash.
"At the same time none of us like to lose. There is a balance you have to find. A lot of things go through your mind, but you have to learn how to deal with it and get through your fear. That is half the battle."
Stoner concedes that he might one day go back to MotoGP racing. It's a long shot, but Australia's greatest rider since Mick Doohan is leaving the door ajar.
"I had no intentions of going back to the sport," Stoner said.
"But if I see the sport changing dramatically, to the point that it is interesting, there is every chance.
"But the way I see it going, there is no chance."
Is it any wonder Stoner has departed Moto GP?
Spat at, attempts by fans to push him off his scooter and treated with disrespect by both MotoGP officials, Stoner said suggestions he quit because of injuries or his family.
"Injuries weren't any part of why or retired, or that I wanted to do new things," Stoner said. "Family wasn't a part of it either. I just fell out of love with the sport. We had a lack of respect from a lot of people around the sport and I didn't like the direction it was taking.
"We got spat at (by fans), they tried to knock us off scooters going from the motor homes to the pits, everything like that. Unfortunately they didn't like my honesty in the paddock.
"That was part of it, but more it was the direction of the sport.
"We lost a rider a couple of years ago (Marco Simoncelli) and with in a month it was like it never happened. They want to see biff and barge and they don't realize our lives are on the line.
"We became puppets in that world and it had nothing to do with racing."