Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo has suffered a fractured
left ankle and severe trauma and bruising to parts of the right ankle and foot
after crashing in this morning’s first free practice session for the Chinese
Grand Prix. The 20-year-old joint World Championship leader was thrown from his
M1 during a dramatic high-side at the chicane after turn one, mid-way through
the session, on just his tenth lap.
After an initial examination at the
circuit clinic Lorenzo was taken to the Huashan hospital in Shanghai for an MRI
scan and further detailed diagnosis, before returning to the track and spending
the remainder of the day resting at the Clinica Mobile. His condition will be
re-assessed in the morning before any decision is taken about riding.
Dr
Claudio Costa of the Clinica Mobile said: “Detailed examination has revealed
that Jorge has re-fractured the top of the malleolo bone in the middle of the
left ankle. Furthermore, the MRI scan showed that there are severe impact
oedemas to the right heel, the astragalo bone and the tibia, but fortunately no
signs of further fractures. The diagnosis shows the violence of the trauma he
suffered to both his feet in the crash and Jorge now faces a very difficult task
to participate in tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race.”
Ramon Forcada:
“It’s a great pity this has happened, right at the start of
Jorge’s weekend; we were focused on his arm following his recent operation and
we were quite confident that he could ride as usual. It was a very bad crash and
it is not clear yet what happened because we lost all the data when the
equipment was damaged at the time. As far as we can see from the TV, he lost
grip on the rear. I do not know if Jorge will be able to ride tomorrow, but in
any case we have lost two sessions and we will have to work today in order to
prepare the bike with an ideal set-up for tomorrow. It will be hard, very hard,
as tough as Jorge is!”
From Fiat Yamaha
