Lorenzo Undergoes Successful Operation in Barcelona
Jorge Lorenzo has successfully undergone surgery at the Hospital General de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain last night to repair his fractured left collarbone. The injury was sustained when he crashed in Free Practice nr. 2 for the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen yesterday afternoon.
He was operated on by Dr. Joaquin Rodriguez of the Hospital General de Catalunya, assisted by Dr. Ana Carreras, Dr. Marcos Cots and Dr. Michele Zasa of the Clinica Mobile.
Dr. Zasa made the following statement following the two hours operation:
“The duration of the surgery was approximately two hours; the clinical course of post-operative has been regular. Jorge sustained a displaced, complex fracture to the third medial of the left collarbone. It’s been a challenging operation, apparently successful. We inserted a titanium plate and eight screws to secure the fragments of the collarbone. Jorge has just woken up from the anesthesia. In the next few hours we will evaluate the progress of the patient and then we will be able to estimate how long the post-surgery rehabilitation will take.”
MotoGP 2013 – Round Seven – Assen – Fastest lap and broken collarbone for Lorenzo in Assen
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo was both the fastest and unluckiest man on the first day of practice at the Iveco TT Assen, as he set the pace in the early dry session, before breaking his collarbone in the wet afternoon practice.
The World Champion’s day was brought to an abrupt end when he suffered a high-speed accident and broke his left collarbone in the rain-affected afternoon session. Lorenzo registered a best lap time of 1’53.263 in the morning period, leading the way from Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez in what would prove to be the only all-dry MotoGP™ session of the day. Marquez would go on to top the second session, but was 14 seconds off Lorenzo’s earlier best as the forecast showers finally struck the historic Dutch venue.
The crash for Lorenzo came at the rapid Hoge Heide section running up to Ramshoek, which precedes the Geert Timmer chicane at the end of the lap. The Mallorcan was taken to the circuit’s medical centre and provided with painkillers, having been caught out by standing water before landing heavily on his left shoulder. The fractured collarbone was confirmed less than ten minutes after the session ended. He will now remain under observation in a Dutch hospital where a CT scan will be carried out, and his situation further assessed.
Behind the leading trio, Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi finished fourth quickest, ahead of Repsol’s Dani Pedrosa, an impressive Aleix Espargaro for the Power Electronics Aspar squad, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl, GO&FUN Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, Pramac Racing stand-in rider Michele Pirro and Tech 3’s Bradley Smith. Bradl was running Brembo front brakes instead of Nissin, in what is going to be an extended testing phase with the Italian brake manufacturer.
Wet form was tough to gauge in the afternoon as the track was drying at a rapid pace in the final few minutes, with the likes of Crutchlow sitting out the final bit in a bid to avoid any potential crashes. It did however propel some lesser-known names into the top ten, with Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci, as well as PBM’s Yonny Hernandez and Michael Laverty finishing from eighth upwards.
Practice Results
1 Jorge Lorenzo 1’35.263 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
2 Cal Crutchlow 1’35.613 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
3 Marc Marquez 1’35.883 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Valentino Rossi 1’35.958 ITA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
5 Dani Pedrosa 1’36.034 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
6 Aleix Espargaro 1’36.430 SPA ART Power Electronics Aspar
7 Stefan Bradl 1’36.559 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
8 Alvaro Bautista 1’36.763 SPA HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
9 Michele Pirro 1’36.910 ITA DUCATI Ignite Pramac Racing Team
10 Bradley Smith 1’37.002 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
11 Andrea Dovizioso 1’37.041 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
12 Nicky Hayden 1’37.153 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
13 Karel Abraham 1’37.346 CZE ART Cardion AB Motoracing
14 Hector Barbera 1’37.456 SPA FTR Avintia Blusens
15 Randy De Puniet 1’37.489 FRA SUZUKI Suzuki Test Team
16 Andrea Iannone 1’37.538 ITA DUCATI Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
17 Danilo Petrucci 1’37.654 ITA IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
18 Yonny Hernandez 1’37.917 COL PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
19 Colin Edwards 1’38.147 USA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
20 Claudio Corti 1’38.334 ITA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
21 Michael Laverty 1’38.874 GBR PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
22 Bryan Staring 1’39.708 AUS FTR-HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
23 Ivan Silva 1’39.950 SPA FTR Avintia Blusens
24 Lukas Pesek 1’41.692 CZE IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
Tuenti HP 40’s Pol Espargaro set the pace in the first day of Moto2™ practice at the Iveco TT Assen ahead of Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding and Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter.
Espargaro’s best effort came in the form of 1’38.988 in the morning session, which is when all the top-ten times were set, as the afternoon was affected by rain. Redding was just over a tenth of a second down, finishing ahead of Aegerter, who continues to be a consistently quick performer on his Kalex.
Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco did well to put his Suter in fourth place, with Desguaces La Torre Maptaq’s Xavier Simeon rediscovering some form in fifth just behind. Rounding out the top ten behind them were Marc VDS’ Mika Kallio, Pons’ Esteve Rabat, QMMF Racing’s Anthony West, Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami, as well as Aegerter’s teammate Randy Krummenacher.
In the wet conditions in the afternoon it was NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Mattia Pasini, Kallio and Zarco that led the way. Caught out by either the greasy surface or slippery white lines in the afternoon, crashes came for eight riders including 2010 class champion Toni Elias on his Blusens Avintia machine. Staying out of trouble was wildcard Gino Rea, as the Englishman makes his second wildcard appearance of the season with his privately entered outfit.
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom set a new fastest Moto3™ lap for the Iveco TT Assen on day one of free practice, which saw the class escape the predicted rain until the final few minutes of the afternoon session.
The Mallorcan rider led Team Calvo’s Maverick Viñales and Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger with his record time of 1’43.511. This was half a second quicker than his closest title rival Viñales as, behind Folger, the top five was completed by Estrella Galicia 0,0 pairing Alex Rins and Alex Marquez.
Behind Marquez, Ongetta-Rivacord’s Alexis Masbou put in a great show to finish sixth ahead of teammate Isaac Viñales, CIP Moto3’s Alan Techer, Salom’s teammate Arthur Sissis and Caretta Technology-RTG’s Jack Miller.
All fast times were set in the afternoon practice, during which at the end the seemingly inevitable cloudburst caught out a number of riders, not least CIP Moto3’s Juanfran Guevara who highsided at Stekkenwal corner (Turn 8). Dutch wildcard riders Bryan Schouten and Thomas van Leeuwen ended the day in 19th and 31st places.
— Yamaha Report
Despite being the fastest rider in the first day of practice today, the Assen TT proved again to be a disaster for the third year running for current World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Mallorcan had dominated the morning dry session and had shown an impressive pace in the afternoon’s wet practice until a huge high side at the fastest corner of the track. The first diagnosis is a left clavicle fracture which will require surgery. As a result the title challenger will miss Saturday’s Dutch Grand Prix.
Team mate Valentino Rossi’s confidence in the improved set up of the YZR-M1 after the recent Spanish test continued today with the Italian nine-time champion showing a competitive pace in both the morning dry session and afternoon wet practice. Rossi was fourth in the morning, 0.6 seconds from first in the dry, then rose to second in the afternoon downpour, just 0.25 seconds from front man Marc Marquez.
Valentino Rossi – 4th / 1’35.958 / 36 laps
“It’s been a positive day for us because in the dry it was not so bad this morning, we continued to work with our new setting and the first impression was positive, although we still have to work to improve. We had something important to try this afternoon in the dry but unfortunately it was wet. Anyway we continued our work in the wet and it was a good practice, we did a good job with our new setting and the bike was also very good in the wet. I improved lap by lap; I had good pace and I was in second position. We have to continue to work in both conditions, everybody knows here in Assen it can be wet or dry. Unfortunately Jorge had a big crash and an injury. It’s a great pity for Yamaha, for the Team and for him as he is fighting for the Championship. I hope that he comes back as soon as possible, hopefully for the next race in Sachsenring. I hope to do a good result because I am now the man of the team for Yamaha, for the Factory team and all the guys.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“Unfortunately we didn’t start the practice in Assen as we wanted. Jorge, after an incredible free practice one, had a crash in the wet in the afternoon and he broke his collarbone. This is a real pity as we were coming from two brilliant results and looking for a third. We have to accept this, it is part of our sport. We wish him the best to come back as soon as possible and stronger than before. Vale did two good practices, it seems the feeling he was looking for in the front is back. Fortunately we had the opportunity to test in Barcelona and in Aragon to find it. Let’s see tomorrow what we can do. Here it is very difficult to predict the weather forecast but we are ready whatever the circumstances.”
Dr. Xavier Mir – Chief of Hand Surgery at the Dexeus Hospital (Barcelona) and MotoGP Team Medical Doctor
“Jorge has a high inertia trauma but results are normal from initial neurological examination. We will move to Assen to make head and chest scans and also an abdominal exploration. Our first diagnosis revealed that there is a left clavicle fracture with a slight shift that will need surgery to repair the bone. This injury is in the background while we rule out any other major injury that may become apparent within 24 hours. These kind of impacts at more than 200 km/h need some time for the body to recover to be able to discard any other major injuries. In principle tomorrow he can travel and within 48 hours he will be operable.”
Crutchlow fast in wet and dry conditions in Assen
Preparations for the unique Dutch TT started in contrasting weather conditions at the historic Assen track today, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow demonstrating a fast and competitive pace in dry and wet practice sessions. The British rider made a confident start to the seventh round of the 2013 campaign in cool and overcast conditions this morning and a lap of 1.35.613 placed him second on the leaderboard behind reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Crutchlow was the only rider to lap within 0.5s of Lorenzo’s blistering FP1 pace and he was optimistic he could have challenged for the top three again this afternoon. Torrential rain started to hammor down on the Assen track, which hosts the only Saturday race on the MotoGP schedule, just 15 minutes before the start of FP2. Crutchlow started the session supremely confident of his potential in the rain after he raced to a career best second position on a wet track at Le Mans last month. His confidence was well placed and he led the timesheets in the final stages of the session but rather than take unnecessary risks he opted to pull into the pits and was not out on track when a host of riders improved their pace right at the end. He eventually finished seventh.
Today was a positive experience for Bradley Smith, the British rider producing another impressive display just 10 days after he underwent double surgery on his left hand and wrist in Barcelona. The 22-year-old had a screw inserted in the scaphoid bone in his left wrist that he damaged in a crash during practice for the recent Mugello round and while the operation was a success, he is still experiencing pain and discomfort in the hard braking zones at Assen. Smith was immediately fast on his YZR-M1 machine in FP1 though and a personal best lap of 1.37.002 placed him 10th and just over a second outside of the top three. With FP2 a rain-soaked affair and with further wet weather forecast for tomorrow, Smith’s outstanding effort to finish in the top 10 this morning could have earned him a deserved place in tomorrow afternoon’s QP2.
Cal Crutchlow 2nd / 1’35.613 / 38 laps
“I am really happy with today. I was second in the dry this morning although I need to improve my pace in the first sector because the gap to Lorenzo in that section was pretty big. The gap of everybody else was pretty big to be fair and Jorge was doing an amazing job. It’s a huge shame that he got injured in FP2 and I wish him a speedy recovery because the Championship is not the same with him not in it. In the rain this afternoon I was very comfortable and I am one of the fastest on track. Before the end of the session I didn’t want to take any risks so I came into the pits and lost a few places. Had I stayed out I am sure I could have been in the top three again but I am happy enough with my performance in both conditions.”
Bradley Smith 10th / 1’37.002 / 31 laps:
“This morning was very positive being in the top 10. I was determined to try and get in the top 10 in case the rain continues and it means I am immediately into QP2 and that’s very good. I don’t feel too bad physically at the moment but my wrist is still hurting quite a lot and I need to see if I can reduce the pain, especially in the braking area. I had a good pace in the wet and I got behind Valentino for three laps and that helped and he didn’t really pull away. I only did 11-laps in the rain because it wasn’t worth taking too many risks and I didn’t want to stress the wrist too much.”
— Repsol HRC
The Dutch TT has begun under mixed conditions today in Assen. This morning’s FP1 session was a chilly 14ºC with a low track temperature of 17ºC and both Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez set to work on soft front and soft rear Bridgestone tyres. On his last exit, Marc tested a hard front to asses the difference and on his final lap of 19, he put in his fastest lap of the session with 1’35.883, placing him third in the standings. Dani remained on the soft option tyres for the whole session and was fifth fastest with 1’36.034 on lap 13 of 19.
In the afternoon, with temperatures similar to the morning, the riders had a new element to deal with as rain arrived for the entire session. Marc took the fastest time with 1’47.617 on his final lap of 18 and Dani was third with 1’48.240 on his last lap of 17.
Marc Marquez 3rd 1’35.883
“I’m happy because today went pretty well. From the beginning I felt good on the bike, both in the dry and wet conditions. Obviously there are still things to improve, especially in the dry, but overall I felt very comfortable and we’ll see if tomorrow the weather holds out for us, although the forecast is not too good. I hope for at least one dry practice in order to try to improve the setup, so fingers crossed we can have that tomorrow. As for the injury suffered by Jorge, he has been very unlucky. I think it’s only the second crash that he has had this year, and it’s resulted in injury – which you never wish on any rider. I hope he makes a speedy recovery; I’m sure that in Germany he will be ready for battle again”
Dani Pedrosa 5th 1’36.034
“In today’s sessions we rode on both dry and wet asphalt. In the dry the feeling was a lot more difficult than usual. With such a cold track it’s difficult to get grip in the tyres and you skid a lot when cornering, so we could not ride comfortably. We’ll see if it’s possible to improve the bike with regards to this over the next few sessions if we have dry conditions again. In the rain we improved a little and we were able to try some things out. The downside of today was the injury to Jorge. It’s a shame that he crashed and that it turned out so badly for him. As a rider, I know that now is a difficult time for him, so hopefully he can get through these days as best he can, as things like this are very painful”
— Ducati Report
The first day of on-track action at the Assen TT featured a dry morning free-practice session and a rainy afternoon session. Both presented challenges for the Ducati Team, but as is often the case, Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden fared better in the wet.
Both riders struggled to find grip in chilly FP1, finishing with the eleventh and twelfth best times. Things also proved difficult in the early going of the afternoon outing, but adjustments resulted in improved rain settings by the end of the 45-minute session, at which point the teammates sat tied at fifth-best with identical times of 1:48.682.
However, the faster morning conditions mean that Dovizioso and Hayden were still eleventh and twelfth best on combined times after FP2. The Ducati Team hopes for good conditions tomorrow morning so that they’ll have an opportunity to move into the top ten and thereby advance directly to Q2.
Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team, 11th (1:37.041)
“We did okay in the wet this afternoon, as we know that our bike has good rear grip in these conditions. In the dry session this morning however we struggled a bit, and we’re still some way off the fastest guys. I made a small mistake in a corner during a fast lap, but that’s not important, as our pace in the wet is good. I’ve learned from experience to never wish for rain, as something bad can always happen in those conditions, but it was tough this morning. I don’t know if we’ll be able to reduce the gap in the dry, so at this point I prefer the wet! In the end, although the track’s grip isn’t bad, the white lines are slipperier than at other circuits, and a couple of times, I risked having a crash like Lorenzo’s.”
Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team, 12th (1:37.153)
“It’s been a very difficult day, especially this morning. I don’t know if it’s due to the tyre, but I really had no grip, particularly on corner entry. The bike was moving a lot, and it was hard to go fast. Even in the rain this afternoon, it was hard to get any feeling. I certainly need to do a better job tomorrow, and hopefully we can find something to make the bike work better. The forecast says it might not be dry again until race day, so it’s going to be really interesting. We’ll just keep plugging away and see what we can do.”
— Bridgestone Report
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Extra-soft & Soft. Rear: Soft, Medium-soft & Medium (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 15-16°C; Track 18-21°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP2 – Wet. Ambient 15-15°C; Track 18-20°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo suffered a tragic change in fortunes on the first day of action at Assen, as the reigning champion clocked the quickest time of the day before sadly breaking his left collarbone in a crash during a wet Free Practice Two.
In a day of contrasting weather conditions, Lorenzo quickly established himself as the pacesetter by setting a time of 1’35.263 on softer option slicks front and rear in FP1, finishing the session 0.350 seconds clear of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow. Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez – who was quickest in the wet FP2 session this afternoon – was third overall on the first day of practice, with a personal best lap time of 1’35.883. Aleix Espargaro exploited the grip of the CRT-only soft compound rear slick to pilot his Power Electronics Aspar ART machine to P6 and lap within just 1.167 seconds of Lorenzo’s benchmark time.
Weather conditions were cool today, with track temperatures in both the dry FP1 and wet FP2 session barely reaching the 20°C mark. The cool asphalt put a premium on good warm-up performance and grip levels, so softer rubber compounds for the slick and wet tyres were preferred by riders today. The softer rear slick options were used exclusively in FP1, although both the extra-soft and soft front slick options were used. The main wet tyre for Assen is the soft compound option and in FP2 no riders elected to try the alternative hard compound wet tyre on the cold and soaking track surface. Although no riders were able to improve upon their FP1 lap times in the wet second free practice, with further rain expected this weekend the session provided valuable setup data for the teams.
Cool conditions with a possibility of rain are forecast for tomorrow, the next session on the programme for the MotoGP riders being FP3 at 0955 local time (GMT +2) tomorrow.
Shinichi Yamashita – General Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department – “Today’s changing weather allowed riders to work on their dry and wet setups and the cool track made conditions in both sessions a bit tricky. In the morning session all riders started on the soft option slicks front and rear, but after their first stint some riders felt comfortable enough to also try the harder front slick. Both of our front slicks this weekend are towards the softer end of our allocation, so the warm-up performance and grip of both options are well suited to these cool conditions. Grip levels from the track were reported to be adequate and now that we have had rain, I believe the grip level will not be any better tomorrow. Finally, I am very sorry to hear that Jorge has broken his collarbone, everyone at Bridgestone Motorsport wishes him a full and speedy recovery and we hope to the see the MotoGP champion back on his bike very soon.”
— Red Bull Rookies
Karel Hanika keeps his run of Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup qualifying domination going with his third pole position of the season at Assen. Completing the front row of the grid behind the 17-year-old Czech are local hero Scott Deroue, also 17, and 16-year-old Briton Bradley Ray.
Hanika’s time came from the first session as he proved the master of a drying track to head the opposition all the way. Over a second quicker than anyone else he lost the chance to improve further when he slid off early in the second session. “I probably did not quite let enough heat get into the tyres,” he explained. “I thought they would be OK, I had done a couple of laps and there were a few guys ahead and I thought it was a good opportunity to chase after them I had a slide from the rear, saved it but it pushed the front away and that was it.”
“It is a shame because I would have liked to go faster and the fall was not necessary. The setup should be OK for the race, I was having a bit of handlebar shake through the fast sections in the first session which was unsettling but the mechanics said they would fix it. They probably did but I didn’t really get to test it in the second session, but that’s my fault.”
It was Ray who got closest to Hanika in the first session and he too fell in the second period before improving his time. “Just so much front end movement that it eventually tucked the front. We are still trying to get the bike to work the way we want and we seem to have gone backwards here.”
He seemed to be sitting comfortably in a secure second on the timing chart as tyre wear took the edge off performance towards the end of the second 30 minute session. Then on the final lap Deroue nailed a perfect tour to grab second. “I could hardly believe I’d done it,” reported Deroue. “I was lapping consistently towards the end but couldn’t go any quicker. I realised that Joe (Roberts) was behind me so I let him past, get a gap then when after him. It worked perfectly. The tyre was completely destroyed at the end though.”
What about the gap to Hanika though? “Karel can do these great laps,” said Deroue. “Just like he did in Austin but he couldn’t get away from the pack there. I think we can race with him,” asserted the Netherlander.
Jorge Martin, the 15-year-old Spaniard who lies second in the points table agrees with Deroue’s assessment after qualifying fourth. “Karel can do great lap times but he doesn’t always win the races, I think we can make it a close fight. I am happy with the improvement we made through practice, a lot of changes to the bike and some good steps forward, it is not perfect but I think good enough for a good race.”
It has been a lengthy seven week break since the last Rookies Cup race in Jerez in early May but some of the teenagers have been competing in other series and in the last couple of weeks have had some great success.
Scott Deroue won both IDM German National Championship Moto3 races at Oschersleben and then Karel Hanika did the same thing when the series moved on to the Red Bull Ring last weekend. Across the channel Jordan Weaving won the Moto3 British Championship at Knockhill in Scotland while on the other side of the Atlantic Joe Roberts was winning both AMA Pro SuperSport Races at Barber Motorsports Park, his first AMA pro races. In Spain Marcos Ramirez now leads the Spanish CEV National Moto3 Championship after finishing third in round four in Albacete.
