Lorenzo relieved to suffer no injuries

After making an excellent impression in his first three races this season, the MotoGP rookie had two very serious shunts - one of them forcing him to miss the Barcelona race - among various smaller ones, and has since struggled to fully regain his confidence.

In this afternoon's rainy race at the Sachsenring, the Spaniard crashed on lap three while running in sixth place after starting from the fifth spot on the grid.

"I felt good this morning because I though that I would have a chance to do a good race in the rain," said Lorenzo.

"On the warm-up lap however I felt that something wasn't quite right; I didn't have enough grip and I lost some confidence then. I made a good start and passed two riders in the first corner, but then I ran too deep and lost the places so I had to push to try to make them up again.

"The crash happened when I opened the gas coming out of turn four and I lost the rear. It was a pity but I didn't hurt myself this time and I am not feeling sad for myself tonight, I just feel very bad for the team because they worked too hard all weekend for a result like this.

"The positive thing about today is that at each race I am feeling better in myself, even though we're having some problems getting our package work correctly, and now I am just looking forward to racing for the very first time at Laguna."

The United States Grand Prix will be held in Laguna Seca in one week's time.