MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo to travel to Laguna Seca despite injury

Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo has confirmed he will travel to this weekend's Laguna Seca MotoGP and attempt to race despite damaging his injured collarbone last week.

Lorenzo, 26, missed the Sachsenring race last weekend after flying back to Barcelona for surgery following a high speed crash in practice.

"Finally we have decided to go to Laguna Seca," Lorenzo said. "Following the final medical check and after speaking with doctors, we are going to try."

Lorenzo is currently third in the championship, 11 points behind leader Marc Marquez.

Lorenzo had a titanium plate and eight screws inserted but raced 48 hours later, finishing fifth to keep himself in the championship battle.

Less than two weeks later, another high speed crash in practice at the Sachsenring GP caused damage to the titanium plate. The Spaniard withdrew from the race and flew back to his home city of Barcelona for surgery, where a new plate was inserted with 11 screws and a bone implant.

After the surgery Lorenzo said on Twitter that he would miss Laguna and return at the Indianapolis round on 16-18 August.

But following a check up on Tuesday evening, where he was advised by doctors to rest, he decided to travel to Laguna Seca for the ninth round of the MotoGP championship.

Lorenzo said: "At the beginning I seriously thought that it might have been convenient to take the necessary time to recover and be back at Indy (Indianapolis) but in the last two days I have felt much better."

Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who led the series ahead of the Sachsenring race, crashed on the second day of practice, fracturing his collarbone. He also pulled out of that race but he is expected to race at Laguna Seca.

Pedrosa and Lorenzo's absence allowed Marquez to take the championship lead by two points after his taking second win of the season. The top five in the championship, including Briton's Cal Crutchlow and seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, are separated by 37 points.