It was the dreaded news and unfortunately it broke. Jorge Lorenzo did not emerge unscathed from his crazy antics imposed by a fall from his Honda during FP1 of the Dutch Grand Prix. An accident which put an end to his performance at Assen, which will force him to withdraw from the Sachsenring and which marks the start of the summer break in Brno on dotted lines...
A situation which is therefore serious. In question, a fractured sixth vertebra. The Spaniard, however, has neither paralysis nor emotional disorders. The Repsol Honda team principal confirmed this bad news regarding the spinal fracture to the media. “ Yes, Jorge complained of severe pain in his chest after falling, because in this area he had already hurt himself very badly during the fall during testing in Barcelona on Monday” said Puig.
« We had the first x-ray taken on the track. Everything seemed fine. But then Jorge was taken to Assen hospital for further medical examinations. Unfortunately, we were able to discover, following these more precise checks, that Jorge suffered a fracture of the sixth vertebra. He will certainly miss not only Assen but also the Sachsenring. We will then examine whether he will be fit for the Brno Grand Prix on August 4. We hope ».
Puig continued: “ Jorge has no motor or neurological lesions, he can move his hands and feet. The doctors told us that this area around the sixth vertebra is well protected. Therefore, the nerves and spinal cord were not affected. That's the good news. Jorge now has to wear a corset for three to four weeks.”
Repsol-Honda will not name replacement drivers for the Dutch TT. “ It would be too short” said Puig. " But we will think about the possibility of leaving Stefan Bradl at the German Grand Prix in a week at the Sachsenring”.
How did this accident happen? “ I think Jorge went through the corner faster on lap 17 than in the previous laps. Then he fell. Normally, a fall is a human error. Maybe Jorge tried a different line, maybe he was too fast. I haven't been able to look at the data yet. But it was definitely a pilot error” reply: Alberto puig.
