Rossi Feels Pain in His Leg after Misano Test

Valentino Rossi's test at Misano yesterday did not go down very well for the Doctor, as he admitted he still feels some pain in his leg following his crash at Mugello one month ago. The reigning MotoGP champion did around 26 laps in a Superbike-prepared Yamaha bike on the Italian circuit, but his lap times were some couple of seconds slower than the track's record.

Initially, Rossi concluded an 11-lap test on the saddle of the YZF-R1, scoring a best time of one minute and 41 seconds. In the afternoon, the Italian returned on the track for and additional 15 laps, improving his time by approximately 3 seconds. However, that was still a couple of seconds slower than the lap record set during the last Superbike event on the San Marino track one week ago.

“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. 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,” said Rossi after the test.

“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,” added the Italian rider.

The German GP is scheduled to take place on July 18, 10 days from now. The Italian did not reveal if any more tests are scheduled in this remaining period of time, and avoided giving a clear verdict on his potential return in the MotoGP. It will all depend on his rehabilitation programme, so his doctors will also have a saying in such a move.

Even if Rossi doesn't make it to the Sachsenring two weekends from now, Yamaha are covered (in terms of lineup) until next months's Czech Republic GP, at Brno, as test rider Wataru Yoshikawa was already confirmed by the team for the races at Catalunya, Sachsenring and Laguna Seca.