Ok, I’ll confess. I think Valentino Rossi is awesome. But who doesn’t? He is a legend on a bike and he has proven it time and time again with his racing successes. Not only that. He is an extremely likeable fella. Colourful, down to earth and with a slightly quirky sense of humour.
But can you believe his latest news? Rossi who crashed and broke his leg only weeks ago is back on a bike. Here is what his team had to say….
Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi rode a motorcycle for the first time this week since breaking his right leg at Mugello on 5th June. He rode a total of 26 laps at Misano on a YZF-R1 WSB machine, provided by the Yamaha World Superbike Team, and recorded a best time of 1’38.200. Rossi did an initial run of 11 laps at 18.30 CET with a best time of 1’41.000, then a second run of 15 laps at 19.45 CET with a best time of 1’38.200 (unofficial times).
The reigning World Champion was able to ride well but he had some pain in his leg and his shoulder. He will now continue with an updated rehabilitation programme and make a decision within the next week as to whether he will ride at the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, in ten days time.
“We made this test in order to understand how we must work from here and to see more or less how I can ride the bike,” said Rossi. “The test was positive, because I can at least ride, but there is a lot more to a MotoGP race than to a test like this one. I had some pain in the ankle, the knee and the shoulder, but above all I lacked strength in the shoulder and a bit of movement in the ankle. I would really like to come back at Sachsenring, but it is still too early to say. We still have twelve days and we must wait and see how much we can improve my condition in the next few days. The Superbike today was good and great fun to ride! I really would like to ride at Sachsenring, but we must wait another week before making a decision.”
