Lorenzo relieved to escape further injury

The Yamaha rider has been confined to a wheelchair since he damaged both his ankles during the Chinese Grand Prix, and his injures have not healed for this weekend's race.

The Spaniard lost control of his bike at Turn Two near the end of today's second practice session, and he admitted that the first thing he did was check if he had not injured himself more.

Lorenzo said that he felt fine while riding, but he confessed he is lacking confidence.

Despite that, he was second quickest in the morning and fourth in the afternoon.

"The first thing I did when I crashed this afternoon was to stand up in order to check that I hadn't done any more damage," he said. "Luckily it's okay and I don't think I have made anything worse and at the moment I don't need to have any injections, which is better for me.

"The pain in my ankles is not so bad and to ride is okay, the main problem is that I am lacking the confidence that I know I should have, but I just need to keep thinking positively and I am sure that this will come soon.

"We need to work on the electronics a bit and also the suspension, and then I think we can make another step, but anyway we've made a good start today overall.

"If it stays dry then I think I will have the possibility to fight for the pole position, but if it's wet it will be a different story so we are hoping for good weather."