The FIM doctors have cleared both Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo and KTM’s Pol Espargaro for this weekend’s MotoGP race in Thailand.
Lorenzo crashed in the first corner of Aragon Grand Prix after a major high-side while battling with Honda’s Marc Marquez. The five-time world champion suffered a dislocated first toe, and a fractured second metatarsal as a result.
On the other hand, Espargaro suffered a fracture to his left collarbone during a crash in FP3 which ruled him out of the subsequent FP4, qualifying and the race. The Spaniard had injured his collarbone at Brno and made his return in San Marino.
However, the crash in Aragon meant the injury re-surfaced and forced him to sit out of the weekend. Following the mandatory checks performed at Buriram circuit on Thursday morning, the doctors have cleared both Lorenzo and Espargaro to race this weekend.
The two will be seen in action from Friday onward. Although, it remains to be seen how comfortable they are on their respective bikes when they ride in FP1. Espargaro was forced to retire on his returning event in Italy as he couldn’t complete the full race due to pain.
The programme for KTM has been hugely hindered due to Espargaro’s injury. The outgoing Bradley Smith has been doing the major work as even their test rider Mika Kallio is still to recover from his injury.
Speculations still say that Dani Pedrosa will join the team as a test rider but so far nothing has been confirmed. For Lorenzo, it will be a key task to feel 100 percent as he challenges teammate Andrea Dovizioso and Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi for second.
As he is leaving the Italian manufacturer at the end of 2018 to join Honda, Lorenzo will be looking to score as many poles and wins possible to leave a mark on the team and in the history books.
Elsewhere, World Superbike rider Jordi Torres will continue on with Reale Avintia outfit alongside Xavier Simeon as a replacement to the recovering Tito Rabat. As known, Torres will ride the 2016 Ducati whereas Simeon will be abode the GP17.