MotoGP champ Casey Stoner reveals worsening fatigue illness is ‘destroying' him

Double MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner has revealed his ongoing battle against chronic fatigue syndrome has worsened over the course of the year, saying he is struggling to manage the ‘destroying’ illness.

Title-winner in 2007 with Ducati and in 2011 with Honda, the notoriously media-shy Stoner has remained largely out of the limelight since retiring at the conclusion of the 2012 season save for the odd private MotoGP test session and a brief stint in V8 Supercars.

However, earlier this year he revealed he has been battling a debilitating fatigue syndrome for some months to the extent he struggles to get out of bed or lift himself from the sofa for days at a time.

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Now in an interview with El Mundo, Stoner says the problem has worsened, describing himself as starting the day with ‘50% energy before it runs down to empty’. 

“It's been months in which I felt that my body was deteriorating for no apparent reason: I went to train and came back burst,” he said. 

“I thought that I would find a way to cure it, that I would trained more than anyone else and I would have moved on, but I was wrong.  But the truth is that this disease is destroying me and I cannot manage it . "

"Now I am a little better, I have learned to manage my energies. I start the day at 50% and the energy goes down until I feel empty. All this has made me rethink my life. 

“On fine days I take the opportunity to play with my daughters and if anything I'm going to play golf. 

“I've only ridden a motorcycle twice in the last two years and went fishing… well, I don't even know when was the last time I went there.”

Casey Stoner - "Marquez would be champion just doing half a season"

While he may not speak too often with the media, when Stoner does speak out about the current state of MotoGP, he makes it count/

Here is no exception, the 35-year old casting a sly dig towards the entire field by professing that Marc Marquez would have won the 2020 MotoGP title even if he’d have returned from injury mid-way through the year.

“He would have been champion if he had recovered with patience and had run half of the world championship.”