Jorge Lorenzo reveals truth behind hand injury

Jorge Lorenzo has revealed the badly broken right thumb that disrupted his pre-season MotoGP plans was not the result of a motocross training accident.

Lorenzo missed the second Sepang test in Malaysia last month after a training crash that a Fiat Yamaha statement said was a slow speed motocross crash.

But Lorenzo, who was back in action at last week’s Qatar test to finish seventh, told MCN: “Everybody thinks it was motocross training but I was doing asphalt training with a very small bike that only had 10bhp. But maybe I was taking too many risks.

“I was on a very tight track and I was trying to pass (Carlos) Checa. It was the first day I was training with him and the first time I tried to overtake him I crashed.

“I guess it was my competitive instinct and maybe it was too much. This was a big lesson learned.”

Lorenzo expects to be close to 100 per cent when the new MotoGP season gets underway back in Qatar on April 11.

For full coverage of last week’s Qatar test, check out six pages of coverage in today’s issue of Motor Cycle News.