Pushing the Limits: The Two-Time World MotoGP Champion's Own Story (by Casey Stoner, 24 Oct 2013).
Hardcover, internet price ¤12.4-$16.6
Casey Stoner tells of his early family life, the development of his riding skills and why his parents decided to sell everything and travel from Australia to Europe to chase the dream and support his aim to become World Champion when he was only fourteen years old.
As fearless with his opinions as he is on the racetrack, Casey includes all the highs and lows of his life so far: the real reason he left for Europe so young, his thoughts on racing as it stands today, the riders' hierarchy, the politics of racing, the importance of family, his battle with illness and why he decided to turn his back on a multimillion-dollar contract when he was still winning. And he will let us in on some of the new goals he has set for himself.
Pushing the Limits is a unique and remarkable account of self-sacrifice and tenacity to succeed against the odds, the inspiring story of a young Australian who took on the world on his terms, his way ... and won. This book is published one year after his first book, “Victory lap”.
Here comes an edited extract from Casey Stoner¢s autobiography, PUSHING THE LIMITS.
EVERYTHING changed within a split second on the fourth lap of qualifying (at Indianapolis), when the rear stepped out on the exit of the left-hand turn 13 and launched me over the front of the bike at around 150km/h.
The first thing to touch the ground was the toe of my boot and the impact ripped my foot around . . . I looked down at my foot, which was facing sideways, and I remember thinking, “This isn¢t good!”
Then, as I moved my weight on to my other leg, I felt a pop in my ankle and there was a loud crack. The pain was unreal, so bad that I honestly thought my tibia had come out through the side of my leg. But it was actually the sound of the joint going back into the socket.
I went for scans at a hospital in downtown Indianapolis, where the doctors told me that they¢d never seen bone that badly bruised before without it being broken in half — it was so bad that there was bruising to the actual bone marrow.
We emailed the notes to Dr Neil Halpin in Australia, along with a photograph of the ankle, which had ballooned to double its normal size.
Dr Halpin told me he couldn¢t make a full assessment without seeing the original scan documents, a process that would take several days, but his advice was that I shouldn¢t race….