Honda MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo says he broke his wrist in a “very stupid” dirt bike training accident because he failed to notice some mud on the track at which he was riding.
Lorenzo, who moves to Honda this year following a two-season stint at Ducati, underwent surgery on a broken left scaphoid he suffered as a result of his training incident on Monday having initially went to hospital in Italy last Saturday complaining of pain in his wrist.
The surgery was a success, but Lorenzo has been ruled out of the opening test of the year at Sepang in two weeks' time, and does not expect to be 100 percent fit for the first race of the new campaign in Qatar on March 10.
“What happened was a very unlucky moment honestly, because it was my first day of riding with a dirt track bike,” Lorenzo told motogp.com.
“My mistake was I didn't check out the track by walking it, and I didn't realise there was some mud in the middle of the track.
“The front closed, I had a very stupid crash, very small crash at low speed. The scaphoid bone broke and finally I have to make operation to heal as fast as possible to arrive at the Qatar test.”
Lorenzo's new team-mate Marc Marquez is also recovering from surgery on the shoulder he dislocated at the start of last year, but will be present at the Sepang test.
Marquez, along with Lorenzo and former champions Mick Doohan and Alex Criville, unveiled a largely unchanged livery for the new season at Honda's official 2019 launch presentation on Wednesday in Madrid.
Lorenzo: Being a Honda rider an added pressure
Lorenzo's arrival at Honda this year gives the Japanese marque its first all-world champion line-up since Eddie Lawson and Wayne Gardner were paired with each other in 1989.
Speaking during the team's launch event, Lorenzo admits the “confidence” Honda has shown in signing him is an “added pressure”.
“Without a doubt, the confidence that Repsol and Honda has placed to bring me to this team is added pressure,” the triple MotoGP champion added.
“But I always say it's not the same pressure you have when you come to the world championship, when you're 14, 15, [when] you're forced to make something out of it or you're going home and choosing a different profession.
“The pressure is different when you already have certain results, when you have world championships.
“But of course I am still very demanding of myself and working to get the best out of our situation, and I want the confidence they have placed in me to be rewarded with good results.”
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