Lorenzo breaks back, out of Dutch MotoGP

Jorge Lorenzo

Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo was ruled out of MotoGP’s Dutch TT on Friday after being taken to hospital following a crash in practice 1 at Assen.

MotoGP doctors reported the triple MotoGP champion, who has had several big crashes over the last year and missed four races in 2018, had suffered a fracture of the sixth thoracic vertebrae.

MotoGP medical director Angel Charte said the rider would be transferred to Barcelona for further scans.

“Our initial thoughts are that it won’t be surgery, but we can’t know until we have the MRI (scans)," he told the MotoGP website. “He’s okay but in a lot of pain and unable to move."