#(super crucial context is they didn't just go after jorge. they were offering him *considerably* more money than they were paying casey)

[batsplat]

Stoner also revealed that he had found it immensely difficult to miss the races, so much so that he couldn't bear to watch them on TV. "I didn't want to watch the races, I just wanted to find out the results, it was too hard to watch" he said. "Even now, it feels like I've missed out on so much." "We went off lactose, we went off gluten for two or three weeks, to try and get a reaction from that. Unfortunately, medical things take some time to understand them. You need to get things out of your system before you can get other things in your system to see if it works. We've found recently that I've had quite low blood pressure and low sodium levels so we're trying to increase that to see if that helps. We might have found something with lactose, a lactose intolerance to some degree, so I've gone off lactose to see if that helps." Stoner dismissed rumors that a bad diet may have contributed to his illness. "We haven't changed my diet because I already had a good diet before, but we're trying to change it to put things in my diet that will put something in my system to help me pick myself up again." "For the first month there was complete rest, there was no physical exercise at all. After that we started training lightly on the bike again, I was out there with my trainer, and we did a good week or so training. Basically just light stuff, just to keep the muscles working, because after so long off the bike, the muscles are going to be sore and tired. After the exercise, we still found the same problems, I was still running into that wall, and we couldn't fix it." Stoner mocked rumors of his retirement, saying that he had laughed at how quickly they had appeared. "I heard on day 3 of Brno that I was retiring," he said. "It's pretty immature of people to spread these rumors." His intention, he kept repeating, was only ever to take 3 races off. "I am looking forward to my future, especially if we can sort this out. I'm looking forward to this weekend, because it's been too hard to be away from racing. It only takes you a couple of weeks away from racing to realize that this is what you really want to do and what you want to get back to doing."

Stoner also dismissed rumors of problems between himself and Ducati. Stoner told the assembled media that it had been his decision to handle the situation as they did, and concentrate on getting better in Australia without assistance from Ducati. "It's difficult for people over here to understand that being away from the sport meant I had to be away from the sport. I had to sort this out on my own. If I'm not here racing, what reason would there be for me to be in contact with the media and everyone here?" Nor had he been upset by Ducati's approach to Jorge Lorenzo. "It's understandable," Stoner said. "It was no problem for me. There was an opportunity there, I'm sure a lot of riders were speaking to a lot of teams; it was that part of the season." But Stoner was clear on where he wanted to stay: "Ducati know I'm happy here, and they know I'm happy with the work they've been doing." He also explained that part of the lack of communication was down to the remoteness of Stoner's house in Australia. "Mobile phones don't work where I live," he said. "So I was out of contact with everyone until the doctors appointments." When asked whether his problems could have been caused by stress, Stoner replied that he did not believe this was the case. Any stress he may suffer, he said, was solely down to the pressure he puts on himself, one factor which the doctors did identify. "They said over-training, things like this. Maybe pushing myself too hard," Stoner conceded. "My biggest critic is myself. All the pressure comes from me, I don't feel pressure from elsewhere. If I'm not getting results, the biggest problem I have is myself. I'm disappointed in myself. This is what confuses some people; when I'm interviewed after the races, even when I win, when I don't look so happy it's not that I'm not happy, it's that I'm disappointed that I made a mistake or I don't believe I rode the best race I could. This is the only criticism that I could have. It's definitely not a problem of pressure."

Excerpts from Casey Stoner's Estoril 2009 media session (x)