Jorge Lorenzo believes that he will have one last race for Ducati, this weekend in Valencia, having missed the last four due to injury.
Lorenzo was already carrying an injury when he fractured his left wrist in Thailand in early October as a result of highsiding due to a mechanical problem.
He attempted to compete in the Japanese MotoGP weekend but pulled out, did not travel to Australia, then called off a comeback in Malaysia after being slowest by a long margin in both Friday practice sessions.
The Spaniard is confident, however, that there will not be a repeat of that situation in Valencia, especially if forecast rain comes to pass.
“I will be riding on Sunday, I think I’m quite well to be able to ride,” declared Lorenzo.
“In Sepang I wasn’t or I wasn’t able to fight for anything important; the top 10 or even top 15; I was too slow.
“But the injury has improved a lot in the last 10 days so now I feel good enough to try and achieve the best result possible for the team. It will be an emotional race because it will close an important chapter in my career.
“Maybe the rain will help me a bit to not stress the injury too much in the recovery too. I’m looking forward to getting on the bike.”
Lorenzo also reflected on the mixed times he has had with Ducati, going winless in his first 23 races for the Bologna factory before picking up three in six just as his defection to Honda was announced.
“The first person I had to demonstrate something to was myself, but not even that because I always believed I can go fast on any bike it’s just a question of time,” he explained.
“We’ve seen changing bikes in MotoGP is very difficult, the level is so high and every small bit of time is so important. In tenths you go from winning to losing 10 positions.
“It was just a matter of time and with that time I showed I was competitive enough to win races.
“Not fighting for the target I wanted to achieve at Ducati, but here the good moments were very good and I want to give them the last present of a good race on Sunday.”
In other injury news, Cal Crutchlow remains out of action for the rest of the year as a result of his Phillip Island crash and Stefan Bradl will again fill in for the Brit in Valencia.
Round 19 of 19 this season begins this evening (AEST) with race start at midnight at the end of Sunday.
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