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The latest on Carl Fogarty from the Ducati Factory.
This press release updates the fans of King Carl and his future and it is not looking good when taken in context with his remarks earlier this year. Then he said he was 60 % in favour of retiring as he had nothing left to prove, and for the first time he was starting to see a life outside of racing.
Here is the text of the Ducati Corse press release issued Tuesday 19th September 2000
First real track test for four-time WSBK champion Carl Fogarty following his crash at Phillip Island in April. The British rider still has pain in his arm when he rides his Ducati 996 and his return to racing is for the moment still in doubt.
Yesterday Fogarty completed around 15 laps of the Mugello circuit in Tuscany, encountering considerable difficulty on his Ducati due to the injury he received in Australia which has kept him out of racing the whole of this season.
Unfortunately, the two \'laps of honour\' at the Brands Hatch circuit at the start of August, when Fogarty and his Factory 2000 bike passed between thousands of adoring fans, were not enough to appraise the real physical condition of the British ace.
The Mugello test was therefore the first real opportunity to get some idea of Fogarty\'s condition after rehabilitation.
Carl\'s biggest problem is the difficulty he has in maintaining the correct riding position due to poor mobility in the arm injured during the incident. For the moment, his arm has not regained its 100% movement and this causes his other arm to become tired rapidly because he has to use it to compensate for lack of strength. As well as major problems in riding the bike in the changes of direction, Carl also says it is impossible for him to reach the correct tucked position on the straights.
\"I was rusty after six months away from racing and I wanted to get back on my bike\" commented Carl. \"This test was crucial to see what my condition was like on the 996 after the long rehabilitation work these past few months. Unfortunately I am still not able to ride naturally. I am struggling in the changes of direction and in the braking. With my right arm, I am trying to make up for the lack of strength in my left arm. The effort caused by these movements makes me very tired and I am unable to ride the way I want to.\"
Carl continued \"Even in the straights, when I try and find a tucked aerodynamic body position, I can\'t reach it and it\'s difficult for me to keep the bike in a straight line. I\'m a long way away from being in the condition I hoped to be in. Maybe I was optimistic because up until now I have rode only an off-road bike where the straighter and not so low down riding position doesn\'t penalise you as much as on a racing bike. After this test, I\'m beginning to think that I won\'t be 100% fit for the 2001 season. Even if I speed up my rehabilitation and work even more intensely on my muscle strength, I don\'t think I will be able to reacquire the necessary potential to be as competitive as I want to be and the others expect me to be. I will decide what to do in the next few days. It\'s not going to be an easy choice, but in any case my future is with Ducati.
