Foggy on track to return?

[elephino]

First real track test for four-times 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.

Foggy - "I was rusty after six months away from racing and I wanted to get back on my bike. 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. 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."

[Rossifumi]

I hate to say this but i have heard all of this before.
I don't think Foggy will return just like Doohan last year.
And let us be fair,what is there to win for Foggy he can only loose something!
There are a lot of new riders out there that are pretty fast,maybe not the class yet of Foggy,but he will have to fight pretty hard to beat these youngsters.

[gomick]

retirement laps at brands hatch foggy, see what time you can do and where it would have palced you on the grid....if my memory serves me correctly, doohans retirement laps at philip island would have qualified him 5th on the grid for the 500 race....of course sunday morning track conditions were SLOWER than saturdays qualifying conditions - tongue in cheek.