Injured Eugene Laverty targets return on final day of Sepang test

Laverty, preparing for his second season in the premier class, is nursing an injured left hand following a crash on Monday and returned to hospital for further assessment after an initial X-Ray revealed he had escaped without any fractures.

“We went back to the hospital today for a CT scan just to double check everything and even though it showed up some fractures, we think they are from ten years ago, when I broke my hand before,” Laverty said.

“So there isn’t a new fracture in there and it feels okay; that’s why I want to try and ride tomorrow. There is some pain in the hand and I won’t know exactly how it will be on the bike until I try it in the morning, but that is the plan at the moment.”

Italian Danilo Petrucci was the surprise pacesetter on Tuesday on the Octo Pramac Ducati GP15 as he edged out Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo by 0.60 seconds with a lap in 2m 00.095s.

The test was delayed by more than an hour after a horror accident involving French rider Loris Baz, who crashed at around 180mph on the main straight.

His Avintia Racing team ruled out the possibility of a mechanical failure with the Ducati GP14.2, with a rear tyre failure suspected as the cause of the crash.

Baz walked away from the incident and Michelin withdrew the soft option rear tyre, used by Baz at the time of his crash, as a result.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez was fourth fastest with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) in sixth.