Stoner, 16, from Kurri Kurri in New South Wales and the youngest rider to have scored 250cc world championship points, as well as the youngest to have qualified on the first two rows of a 250cc GP grid, went to the Italian GP at Mugello with a scaphoid (wrist) injury from the previous round, the French GP at Le Mans.

Following are Stoner's quotes from each of the three days of the Italian GP:

Day One (Friday, May 31) - 14th on provisional grid - "In free practice this morning I had no feeling in my throttle hand because of the pain from the scaphoid I cracked in Le Mans. On lap three I was still running in and before I realised I had given it full throttle coming on to the straight and crashed. I went to see Dr Costa (MotoGP medico) and he gave me some pain-killing injections and I decided to try again this afternoon in qualifying. If there was not considerable improvement I had decided not to ride. In qualifying my wrist was much better but still pain in the fast sections. However, I could not concentrate. Either because of the pain-killer or the knock to the head I received in the morning crash, I was taking different lines and braking points every lap. I could not push too hard as it was very dangerous like this. I eventually finished 14th and, for my first time at the circuit in the dry and only 13 laps, I am OK with the position but unhappy with my time. I will wait and see how I feel in the morning before I make a decision to race or not."

Day Two (Saturday, June 1) - "I have decided not to ride anymore at this GP as it is too risky with the scaphoid problem I sustained at Le Mans. After a lot of treatment on my wrist, I still do not have feeling in my throttle hand. This caused me to crash this morning in free practice. It felt to me that I was rolling the throttle on when I was actually opening it much too fast, making the rear come around and throwing me off. I sustained a small crack to my left little finger. Now I will take the next two weeks off to prepare for the Barcelona GP. The Mugello GP has been an excellent learning experience for me. If similar circumstances happen again I would react a little differently."

Day Three (Sunday, June 2) - "I watched the race in the box with my technicians, even if I would prefer to compete. I must thank Dr Costa and his staff for helping me these past few days. I followed the race from the box, together with technicians, but I would rather have been with (teammate) David Checa in the race. Now I have to cure my injury in order to become competitive in Barcelona. Thanks to Dr Costa and his staff."