Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo said he will participate during the final pre-season MotoGP test, but he’s not competing for the fastest lap time. Rather, the Spaniard is using the last of three pre-season tests at Qatar on March 18-19 to measure his effectiveness on the Yamaha M1 while recovering from an injury.
Lorenzo, teammate of World Champion Valentino Rossi, missed out at the second session of pre-season testing due to the injury he sustained during a motocross training accident in February near Barcelona. The runner-up of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship fractured the base of his first finger and suffered a displaced thumb.
“I have thought about forgoing testing and going straight to the first race,” Lorenzo told the press. “But I feel like going to the tests. I'd like to recover some feeling, some confidence, basically I want to get back in touch with my bike. Even if it's just a couple of laps, I want to see how I feel on the saddle.”
During the first series of pre-season testing at Sepang, Lorenzo posted the fifth fastest time on the first day, and the third fastest time on the second day, just O.36 seconds slower than Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner and 0.755 seconds slower than Rossi.
The first of 18 races will take place at Losail on April 11.
