Lorenzo diagnosed with further ankle fracture

Directly upon his return from Shanghai to Barcelona, Jorge Lorenzo was taken to the Spanish city´s Institut Universitari Dexeus by ambulance for further inspection of the injuries suffered last Friday in a huge highside crash.

The man in charge of the Fiat Yamaha rider´s medical issues, Dr. Xavier Mir, submitted Lorenzo to an examination of both his left and right ankles, and found a further fracture of the right astragalus (the bone that articulates with the tibia, fibula, calcaneus, and navicular) and a broken ligament in the left ankle.

Lorenzo –who was last operated on by Dr. Mir for a compartmental syndrome in his arm after victory in Portugal- will not be required to go under the knife for his latest injury. However, he will be confined to a wheelchair in order to immobilise both ankles, with particular attention needed for the right hand side.

After confirming that Lorenzo's right ankle injury was more serious than previously though, Dr. Mir explained the next step in supervising the recovery process.

`Next Monday we will carry out more tests, and make a more detailed evaluation of the injuries suffered on both sides,´ said Mir in a statement.

Whilst the MotoGP rookie was able to ride to fourth position in Sunday´s race, the nature of his injuries means that participation in Le Mans could be in doubt.