Jorge Lorenzo has undergone successful surgery on a broken left scaphoid, but Repsol Honda has confirmed he will sit out the opening pre-season MotoGP test of 2019 at Sepang next month.
It was reported in Italian newspaper Corriere del Veneto last Sunday that Lorenzo had been admitted to hospital near Verona after complaining of pain in his wrist on Saturday night, with Honda confirming he would be having surgery on Monday to correct a broken scaphoid.
Lorenzo went under the knife earlier today (Monday), which involved a titanium screw being fitted in – what a team press release described as – a “minimally invasive technique”.
Repsol Honda also confirmed he will undergo four days of rest before beginning rehabilitation.
With just over two weeks to the first three-day test of the 2019 pre-season in Malaysia, Honda has elected to rest Lorenzo in the hopes he will be fully fit for the following test in Qatar towards the end of February.
With the Thailand test removed from the schedule this year, Lorenzo will have had just three days of running in 2019 prior to making his Honda race debut in the Qatar Grand Prix on March 10.
The Spaniard will remain under observation in hospital for the next 24 hours, but will be present at Honda's 2019 team launch in Madrid on Wednesday – his first public appearance as an HRC rider.
Lorenzo was forced to miss four of the final five races of 2018 due to a fracture in his left wrist, but was fit enough to test the Honda for the first time over four days in Valencia and at Jerez last November.
New team-mate Marc Marquez is also recovering from surgery on the left collarbone he dislocated early last year, which caused him problems in the latter parts of the 2018 season – most famously during qualifying in Valencia.
