It appears that Jorge Lorenzo has not recovered enough from the injuries he sustained at the Australian GP. Splitting and losing the tip of his ring finger on his left hand, Lorenzo successfully underwent surgery after Phillip Island, but as feared Spanish rider’s injuries still require further time for recovery. As such, the Mallorcan has been marked a scratch for this weekend’s Valencian GP, though his status for next week’s 1,000cc test at Valencia remains a question mark.
Taking Lorenzo’s place in the factory Yamaha squad will again be Japanese Yamaha test rider and All Japan Superbike competitor Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who filled in for Lorenzo at the Malaysian GP a week and a half ago. While Yamaha says that the former-World Champion is recovering well, the concern seems to stem from the ligaments in the Spaniard’s finger, which had to be reattached, as they have not become loose enough for Lorenzo to properly and safely move his finger under race conditions.
Ben Spies is expected to race this weekend though, after the American rider sat out the Australian GP and Malaysian GP because of injuries sustained during a high-speed crash at Phillip Island. Also among the walking-wounded in the Yamaha camp is Colin Edwards, who suffered multiple injuries in his tragic crash with Marco Simoncelli and Valentino Rossi. Replacing the Texas Tornado is American Josh Hayes, who was originally scheduled just to test the 800cc Yamaha M1 during next week’s test, but has now been bumped to racing duty.
Source: Yamaha Racing
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