Fiat Yamaha Team
rider Valentino Rossi yesterday rode a motorcycle
for the first time 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."