Ben Spies (above) missed Phillip Island due to a concussion but is expected back at Sepang. Lorenzo (below), however, had to undergo surgery on his hand and his return is unknown.
American
Ben Spies expects to be fit for this weekend’s Sepang race in Malaysia after he missed the Phillip Island MotoGP round with concussion. The factory
Yamaha rider took part in the pre-race warm-up, but having finished 1.9s behind Casey Stoner he opted to withdraw from the 27-lap race.
His withdrawal came less than an hour after teammate
Jorge Lorenzo was ruled out with a serious left hand injury, which will force the Spaniard to skip Sunday’s Sepang clash while he recuperates in Europe.
Spies was badly shaken in a high speed qualifying crash on Saturday when he lost control of his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 at Turn 3. He suffered a cracked rib but the major issue was the concussion, which Spies admitted was badly hampering his concentration.
The Texan was due to delay flying to Kuala Lumpur until Tuesday to give him more time to recover, but the 2009
World Superbike champion says he shouldn't have any problems in the hot and humid conditions at Sepang.
Spies said: “It could take a couple days, it could take a couple weeks. I don’t think it’s that bad. I’ll be in Malaysia and I hope to be fine. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I just need to relax and keep my head as calm as possible for a day and see what happens.”
