MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo will attend this weekend's US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca and may try to race despite doctors advising him to rest his broken collarbone after two consecutive crashes.
Lorenzo is third overall in the standings after eight of 18 races and only 11 points behind leader Marc Marquez.
He said on Wednesday: “In the end we decided to go to Laguna Seca”, after posting a photograph on Twitter of himself packing a bag with the words “almost ready for Laguna Seca”.
Yamaha said Lorenzo wanted to be with his team and could make an attempt to start.
Last Saturday, after crashing heavily in practice at the Sachsenring in Germany, Lorenzo assured his 800 000 followers that he did not want to take more risks and was only planning to return at Indianapolis in August.
Nevertheless, on Wednesday he said had thought it would be “convenient” to take time out to recover “but over the past two days I have felt much better so now I want to be there, although I will try to not take too many risks”.
Team manager Wilco Zeelenberg said the team would decide its strategy for the weekend once Lorenzo arrived.
Lorenzo shattered his left collarbone in a crash at Assen in the Netherlands in June, had surgery and returned the next day to race - and finished fifth.
In Germany, he crashed again and bent the titanium plate that had been inserted with eight screws; that took another operation, a new plate, a bone graft and a total of 11 screws to repair.
“Jorge is physically capable of riding again now.”
But after an examination on Tuesday Dr Marc Cots of Barcelona's Catalunya general hospital said: “His injury is healing well and looks completely normal.
“The plate we inserted is well positioned and we're pleased with the progress the injury is making. He could ride, just as he did at Assen immediately after his previous surgery.
“However, our advice is to be cautious and avoid the risk of another crash. But the decision on when to return is entirely up to him.” - Reuters