Jorge Lorenzo will attempt to race in this weekend's MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix, having been passed fit by medical staff at the Sepang circuit on Thursday.
Lorenzo has been out of action since fracturing his left wrist in a heavy crash during FP2 in Thailand, and has since undergone surgery to correct the injury.
The Spaniard was replaced in last weekend's Australian Grand Prix by Nieto Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista, who finished just an impressive fourth after fighting for much of the race in the podium battle.
Lorenzo eyed a Sepang return when he withdrew from the Motegi race, and passed a medical on Thursday at the circuit, though is still not sure if he will be able to complete the weekend.
“Only eight days have passed since I had an operation on the ligament of my left wrist, but I’m feeling a bit better,” he said.
“For sure the operation was quite recent and so we’ll have to wait until I get on the bike to see how the wrist responds and if I still have a lot of pain when I ride.
“I hope to be able to race even though I won’t be at 100%. I haven’t been able to train for the past few days and the Sepang circuit is very challenging, so this is not exactly an ideal scenario to return to the track.”
Ducati's test rider Michele Pirro, who was unavailable to fill in at Phillip Island due to a test in Valencia on the GP19, is in Malaysia and on stand-by to take over Lorenzo's Desmosedici should he withdraw again.
Lorenzo's absence from the past three rounds has seen him slip to ninth in the championship with 130 points, and is only one point from being demoted to 10th by Suzuki's Andrea Iannone.
After a poor weekend for Honda at Phillip Island, Ducati comes to Malaysia with an outside hope of winning the teams' and constructors' championships, and will be aiming to cut it 38 and 39-point deficits in Malaysia this weekend.
