Rossi tests fitness at Misano

Valentino Rossi rode a Ducati 1198 at the Misano circuit today (Wednesday) to test his physical condition ahead of the first official MotoGP Test at Sepang, which takes place next week from February 1st-3rd.

Riding the non-MotoGP machine to comply with the Testing restrictions, the Italian took to the track at around 1pm local time in cool conditions, with a maximum air temperature of 10ºC and a peak track temperature of 15ºC.

Still reporting pain in his shoulder, Rossi was accompanied at the track by Ducati Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi and two of his crew engineers Matteo Flamigni and Gabriele Conti as he took the latest step in his continuing recovery from shoulder surgery which he underwent last November.

“First of all, thanks to Filippo (Preziosi) and to Ducati, who organised this test,” said Rossi. “Misano Circuit let us use the track on a day when Mattia (Pasini) was planning to ride in order to confirm his own condition. The track more or less confirmed what we expected: the shoulder is painful, especially under braking, when the front area hurts, where they stitched the tendon. Movement is stable enough, and we’re also doing not so bad with endurance, but apart from that, it hurts a lot and isn’t very strong. Let’s hope it gets a little better in these next few days before the test in Malaysia.”

He continued: “Once we’re there, we’ll work with the riding position in an effort to make the most of the situation and collect important information with the Desmosedici, even though I’m not in top form. Today I did a total of 25 laps on the 1198 Superbike, which is sort of a ‘historic’ motorcycle for Ducati: beautiful and fast. I liked it!”

You can watch footage of the Test in the attached exclusive motogp.com video.