Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo says the left wrist he fractured in a crash during the Thailand MotoGP weekend made him feel “worse” than he expected during practice on Friday in Valencia.
Lorenzo suffered a complete fracture of his left wrist in a highside crash during FP2 for the Thailand Grand Prix, and has been unable to race since.
The Spaniard attempted to ride last time out in Malaysia just eight days after surgery, but pulled out after Friday's running.
Lorenzo returned to action on a wet Friday in Valencia ahead of his swansong Ducati appearance, and was 19th overall after two sessions in which he struggled more with his wrist than he admits he expected to.
“Honestly, a little bit worse than I expected yesterday,” he said.
“I still, it's not the same when you do a normal life, you don't feel so much pain even if I don't have so much mobility, or I can grab something but another thing is the pressure and heaviness of a MotoGP bike, especially on braking.
“It's a lot [of force on the wrist], and the injury is still not healed completely. I'm much better than in Sepang, probably rain conditions helped me because on the rain you have more or less half of the pressure you've got on the dry.
“But the negative part is, it's more easy to crash. So, with not completely healed injury, the idea to crash is not very welcome for the moment.”
Lorenzo will get his first taste of Honda machinery on Tuesday in the post-race test ahead of his debut season with HRC in 2019.
While keen to end his Ducati tenure with a strong result, he says he is not willing to push if the conditions are still treacherous come Sunday, while insisting he is not focusing on preserving himself for his first ride out on the Honda next week.
“I worry about myself, my physical condition,” he added. “In my condition, you go into the rain a lot more careful because you don't want to crash when you don't feel completely strong and completely well, because you will lose more.
“It doesn't depend if it's the last race with Ducati. It's a conscious thing."
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