Stoner breaks shoulder and ankle in Japan

Former world MotoGP champion Casey Stoner has broken his shoulder blade and fractured his ankle in a crash at the Suzuka 8 hours endurance race in Japan.

The 29-year-old was in first position when he came off his Honda on a hairpin bend on Sunday, ending hopes of a win for his team MuSASHi RT HARC-PRO.

He was taken to the medical centre where it was confirmed he had broken his right shoulder blade and fractured his left ankle.

“I am really disappointed that the Suzuka 8 hours has ended like this,” Stoner said in a Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) statement.

“Unfortunately we experienced some mechanical trouble as I was going through the corner leading up to the hairpin. “I did not have enough time to engage the clutch and I came in with too much speed.

“I picked the bike up to try to slow down more but I was heading towards the wall so I decided to lay it over and hit the barrier but unfortunately, they were a lot harder than they looked and we came out of it with a broken bone in the ankle and broken scapular.”

The team has checked the bike and confirmed from the data that the throttle was 26 degrees open before the crash.

“It wasn’t clear why this happened and now the bike will be sent to HRC for a full inspection,” the statement said.

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