Motorsport: Stoner to say sorry for sickie

Casey Stoner is being made to apologise to sponsor Marlboro for being ill. Photo / Getty Images

MELBOURNE - Intrigue surrounding Casey Stoner's lengthy break from the MotoGP championship has intensified after powerful sponsors demanded he apologise for his absence.

Marlboro, the major sponsor of his Ducati team, are apparently angered by his decision to miss three races while recuperating from a mystery illness.

Stoner has returned to Europe to resume the season in this weekend's Portuguese GP and has flown into an unsettled camp.

Marlboro's deputy chairman Maurizio Arrivabene has been quoted as saying he expects an explanation from the 23-year-old Australian.

"I hope that Stoner at Estoril will have the decency to apologise to the team," Arrivabene told Italian television website Sportmediaset.

Arrivabene also controls sponsorship of the Ferrari Formula One team and gave the go-ahead for Kimi Raikkonen to be paid out of his 2010 contract this week so Fernando Alonso could replace him alongside Felipe Massa next season.

His comments raise the question of why an apology should be required as Stoner is understood to be suffering from some type of chronic fatigue problem.

While Stoner was away Marlboro controversially instructed Ducati to make a huge offer - far in excess of Stoner's multi-million-dollar salary - to Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo who ultimately decided to stay at Yamaha.

Rumours have also persisted throughout his absence that Stoner has a fragile relationship with the team and communication between the two has been less than expansive.

Ducati team boss Livio Suppo has been supportive of Stoner and has dismissed the speculation as nonsense.

And he has said Stoner will be under no pressure to perform in the last four races of the year, rather they will approach them as training exercises to reacquaint him with the feel of the bike.

The 2007 world champion missed races in the Czech Republic, Indianapolis and Misano, Italy, to rest and try to discover the cause of his fatigue problems.

A battery of tests have revealed Stoner has low blood pressure and a lack of sodium but ruled out cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological anomalies.

The exams and inspections also failed to show up any kind of virus or infection.

But the doctors all agreed that over-training was the most common factor that showed up during the tests and that the after-effects of injuries and surgeries over the last few years were the cause of the physical weakness and exhaustion that he began to suffer a few months ago.

Stoner said it had been difficult to accept doctors' advice to take a break from racing.

"In the past, I have raced even when injured, like in the last few races of the 2008 season when my wrist was broken, but this time it was really not possible and of course I felt very sorry for the team," Stoner said this week.

"Now I'm looking forward to getting back together with the team and everyone and I hope I'll be able to be more competitive than I was in the past, but we will have to wait and see.

Following the final medical examination that he underwent last week before leaving Australia, the doctors confirmed that while he was still not completely recovered, he is in better physical shape than he was in July.

Ducati also confirmed that Stoner would continue to undergo constant medical supervision throughout this weekend, with a new sodium-rich diet aimed at raising his blood pressure and muscular functionality.

- AAP