Jorge Lorenzo unfit for Valencia race

Jorge Lorenzo will miss this weekend’s final race of the 2011 MotoGP world championship in Valencia having failed to recover from the serious left hand injury he sustained in Australia last month.

The 2010 MotoGP world champion lost 8mm off the top of his left ring finger when he fell heavily during the pre-race warm-up session in Phillip Island on October 16.

The Spaniard underwent successful surgery on the damaged digit but was forced to miss the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.

He waited until today (Wednesday) to make a last-minute decision on whether he could ride in front of his home crowd at Valencia but a Yamaha statement said: “The Mallorcan’s injuries require further recovery time to allow him to ride at a competitive level.”

Lorenzo’s factory YZR-M1 will once again be raced by Japanese test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga.

Yamaha gave a slight hint that Lorenzo might attempt to test the new YZR-M1 1000cc machine next Tuesday.

By opting not to race he will have five more days to recover before the traditional two-day post race test gets underway at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.

And his factory Yamaha team boss Wilco Zeelenberg told MCN recently that he hoped Lorenzo could at least do some laps at the test prior to the winter break.

The Dutchman told MCN: “I hope that he can ride at the test. My first guess is that he could ride for three laps on the first day and understand if he can carry on. Even if the lap time isn’t that good I think it is worth going out because for me he should ride before the winter break.”

Yamaha said a decision on who would ride the new 1000cc YZR-M1 would be taken next Monday.