Jorge Lorenzo pulls out of Thailand’s debut MotoGP

JORGE Lorenzo pulled out of the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix on Saturday after a dramatic crash the day before that sent him tumbling off the track.

Jorge Lorenzo pulled out of the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix on Saturday after a dramatic crash.

JORGE Lorenzo pulled out of the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix on Saturday after a dramatic crash the day before that sent him tumbling off the track.

The Ducati driver said his left wrist is “hurting a lot” and that he did not want to take more risks.

“Now is time for recovery,” the 31-year-old Spaniard told reporters, adding that he wasn’t certain he could compete in the next race in Japan.

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“I’m very worried because Japan is one of my favourite tracks.”

The three-time MotoGP world title holder is fourth in the standings with 130 points but the withdrawal will leave him playing catch up as the season winds down.

The chances of Lorenzo competing in Thailand were slim even as he arrived at the first-ever MotoGP in Thailand’s Buriram, a town of 30,000 in the northeast.

He was limping from a foot injury sustained in Aragon last month. Then the crash during Friday’s practice sent him flying off the bike, which broke into pieces, halting the session.

It was blamed on a mechanical problem.

The rider was declared fit to race afterwards but said he was still in pain and on Saturday he was wearing a wrist brace.

He said he was not happy about missing the inaugural event in the Southeast Asian country.

“Of course this is the first Thailand GP, but I would be as sad as another Grand Prix,” he said.

“I did whatever it takes to arrive here and to try it but now I have no meaning to go (on).”

Originally published as Jorge Lorenzo pulls out of Thailand’s debut MotoGP