Casey Stoner has vowed to fight out the remainder of the MotoGP season despite his title conceded and body aching.
Stoner relinquished his world championship in Japan last weekend to Valentino Rossi and the pain of defeat was matched by the wrist injury he has battled in the past three races.
He is due to have surgery at the end of the season - which heads to Phillip Island for the third-last round this weekend - but ruled out calling an early end to the year to be prepared for 2009.
'We found it (his wrist injury) in Misano and it plagued us that weekend,' Stoner said in Melbourne on Tuesday.
'It plagued us through Indianapolis, especially the fact that I crashed in first practice and injured it again. Last weekend in Motegi it wasn't too bad, the pain wasn't too bad but physically I was worn out.
'The rest of my body is trying to compensate for my weakness there and it really wore me out.'
Stoner said he suffered the injury in a crash five years ago when he was riding in the 125cc class. The bones in his wrist have never healed properly.
He faces a two-month recovery from the time he goes under the knife but insists there's no need to wrap up his 2008 season after his homecoming this Sunday.
'There's no point in cutting it short unless I have a crash and injure it or it just really plays up again and I simply can't ride,' Stoner said.
'We're still going to have enough time. Considering it's not long until the end of the season I may as well continue it, see it out and just sit and rest over the off-season.'
Phillip Island's 4.445 kilometre layout is expected to give Stoner's wrist a rest, if the unpredictable weather doesn't dish up gusty conditions.
'Hopefully it's not too windy and it's a little easier to control the bike,' he said.
'We should be able to run reasonably competitively until the end of the race.'
Nicky Hayden, the 2006 world champion and Stoner's soon-to-be Ducati team-mate, said he was not surprised to see the Australian fight through the pain barrier.
'I think he has shown a lot, the way he fought back (in the title race), that's when you really judge somebody,' Hayden said.
'When things are going good this sport is like everything else, it's easy, everybody's your friend and the bike's perfect.
'When you struggle, how you react, how you deal with the problems (shows a lot). I think how he came back mid-season showed a lot.'
