Valencia Tests
FORTUNA APRILIA COMPLETE FIRST PHASE OF ’06
PRESEASON
 After
lapping in record time, Lorenzo today fractured his collarbone
and will undergo an operation in Barcelona tomorrow. Barberá
set lap times that demonstrated his competitiveness on the
Aprilia. After three days at the Valencia circuit, the FORTUNA
APRILIA team today completed the first phase of their 2006
World Championship preseason schedule, which has so far encompassed
nine days of tests at Jerez (3) and Cheste (6).
A bout of bad luck on the final day saw JORGE LORENZO crash
during the morning and fracture his left collarbone, the same
injury he sustained at the Catalunya GP back in May, which
ruled him out of two races.
The Mallorcan rider had barely completed fifteen minutes
of track time when he crashed at the chicane immediately before
the main straight at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, an accident
probably caused by the low temperatures. Lorenzo was thrown
into the gravel trap after running slightly onto the strip
of grass that runs around the edge of the track.
On Lorenzo’s arrival at the Dexeus Institute in Barcelona
this afternoon, Dr. Xavier Mir made his first assessment of
the injury: "Jorge has suffered a small fracture of the
left collarbone, slightly below the plate we fitted earlier
this year. We will have to operate tomorrow morning to replace
the plate. The previous injury has completely healed and had
nothing to do with this one. We’ll put a smaller plate
in than the one he had up to now and after the operation we
will be able to assess the exact seriousness of the injury,
as well as the time he will need to recover.”
During three days at Valencia Lorenzo covered more than 120
laps, setting a magnificent best time of 1.35.19, which is
inside the current lap record. His team-mate HECTOR BARBERA
completed a total of 150 laps and also set an impressive lap
time of 1.35.89, despite a crash of his own on the first day.
After the accident the youngster from Dos Aguas was quickly
back on the pace and continued with his more than satisfactory
adaptation to the new machine.
The two FORTUNA APRILIA were joined on track by Alex de Angelis
and Marco Simoncelli, who also fractured his collarbone in
a crash. "Jorge’s crash was a shame," commented
DANI AMATRIAIN, Team Director for FORTUNA APRILIA. "The
test had been very positive for everybody so it’s a
pity that we all go on holiday now in this way. In any case
you have to look on the positive side, even of a crash like
this, and say it is better that it happened now and not in
the middle of the season, as happened in 2005. I am sure that
Lorenzo will be completely recovered from the injury by the
time we return to action in the New Year.”
The next test for the FORTUNA APRILIA team will take place
on the 23, 24 and 25 January at Jerez de la Frontera.
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