Assen MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo cleared to race after collarbone break

The MotoGP world champion had surgery to fix the injury in Barcelona on Thursday night, then returned to Assen to see if he would be fit to start the race.

Lorenzo was given permission to ride in the warm-up and completed 11 trouble-free laps, just 0.7 seconds off the pace in eighth place.

He then underwent a final medical examination before being signed off to race on Saturday afternoon.

"Well, finally we are here, to race," said Lorenzo.

"In the first laps of the warm-up I felt a lot of pain, especially when the bike accelerated and I had to hold it strongly. I thought of either giving up or continuing but luckily I continued and the pain decreased as I did more laps.

"I've grown accustomed to moulding my body to the bike to avoid pain."

Lorenzo will start 12th as his Thursday practice time was enough to get him straight into Q2.

He admitted the race will be hard, but is aiming to at least finish in the top 10.

"The problem will be in the race when I have to overtake on the brakes because I can't force the shoulder a lot. I have a good rhythm and I feel much better on the turns, but obviously worse than on Thursday.

"Anyway, I have decided to race. Just finishing the race would be a small victory for me but I would like to take at least five points or more, to take less would not be much after suffering a lot.

"At the end of the race we'll see if it was worth it. I'm proud of myself for the effort in these two difficult days after the crash and also of my team for their support."