Honda MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo says he will be “extra” cautious at the Argentine Grand Prix as he is determined not to add to his current injury concerns by crashing.
The triple MotoGP champion was nursing two major injuries at the end of his Ducati tenure last year, and his preparation for his Honda debut in 2019 was compromised by a left wrist fracture he sustained in training.
He crashed twice during the Qatar race weekend three weeks ago, with the first fall adding a cracked right first rib to his list of recent injuries.
“For sure, I will try not to crash again,” Lorenzo said. “Because I calculate one more race, two races to be completely fit. So, it’s very important not to crash again.
“I will need to take one extra margin of safety probably, but obviously I would like to get the best result possible, so it’s not easy to find the compromise.”
Lorenzo, who finished the Qatar GP in 13th, said he had felt pain in his rib “when I brake, when I change direction” during that race, adding: “For sure the painkillers help a lot, but not all [the pain was gone].”
He said he still feels “some little pain” from the injury, but reckons it is improving.
Regarding his other ongoing injuries, Lorenzo said: “I’m better than in Qatar, about the wrist. The recovery is quite long, I still cannot do push-ups because the pressure inside the wrist [is] still painful.
“But I guess on the bike I will feel better than in Qatar, [it] doesn’t disturb me so much on the bike.”
Lorenzo’s team-mate Marc Marquez is still nursing an injury of his own, having undergone surgery on his left shoulder in the lead-up to the 2019 campaign.
After the Qatar season opener – where his shoulder problems proved to be a non-factor and he finished a close second to Andrea Dovizioso – Marquez rode a motocross bike as he looked to restore his usual training regime.
Although he admitted the motocross attempt may have come “too early”, Marquez stressed that he is not expecting the shoulder problem to hold him back in Argentina.
“I already said in Qatar that the shoulder was not a problem for my performance on the bike, and this was a big help, because you forget that I have been fighting during the winter, and this was important,” he said.
“I try to come back to my normal life, my normal training. For motorcross, OK, it’s too early – I still feel some pain because it’s more aggressive.
“But I was able to ride in a good way – so I already forget the shoulder.
“I felt some pain on the [flight to Argentina], and on the motocross, but for MotoGP it’s not a problem.”