Jorge Lorenzo In Fitness Fight For Valencia

Former MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo will make a last-minute decision on whether to race in the final round of 2011 in Valencia this weekend.

The 2010 world champion is continuing his recovery after he lost 8mm off the top of the ring finger on his left hand in a warm-up crash for the recent Phillip Island race in Australia.

He remains a major doubt though for the season finale in Valencia because of the restricted movement in the digit and his factory Yamaha team boss Wilco Zeelenberg told MCN a decision on his participation in Valencia would be left until Wednesday.

"The tendon on top of the finger is now connected to the bone again and that takes time before he can bend it and get movement back because if he starts immediately it will just come loose," said Zeelenberg.

Yamaha will wait until the last-minute to decide on Lorenzo’s fitness for Valencia, with the 24-year-old eager not to miss a crucial two-day test on the Japanese factory’s new 1000cc YZR-M1 after the race.

One option believed to be under consideration is for Lorenzo to skip the race to give himself an extra five days to recuperate for the test. If he misses the Valencia test, the next time he will be on track is on January 31 in Sepang and Zeelenberg added: "It would be nice to have him in Valencia on the bike but the target is for him to get fit and come back competing and not just coming back for the sake of it. On Wednesday we will decide whether or not he will race in Valencia and also for the test afterwards but 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."