Rossi, a testament to the drive, passion and fitness of MotoGP riders

It was only 19 days ago that the reports came flooding in that nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi had broken his leg. Yet yesterday at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli Rossi put himself on a Yamaha YZH-R1M to put his rehabilitation to the test.

Rossi suffered fractures of the tibia and fibula in his right leg during an enduro training incident. He was taken to Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti in Ancona where he underwent surgery on the same day. After a successful surgery, he was discharged from the hospital the next morning, where he returned to his home in Tavullia.

Although, he has had to miss out on his home race in San Marino, Rossi is more than determined to get back on his Yamaha M1 as soon as physically possible and it’s not like he hasn’t done it before.

Back in 2010, Rossi suffered a similar injury to the same leg after a massive highside during qualifying at Mugello for the Italian Grand Prix. It was only 40 days later that he returned to race in the German Grand Prix, just missing out on a podium place, finishing fourth.

On Monday, he returned to the track to complete a few laps at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and test out his physical fitness. Day one of the private test was cut short with Rossi only managing to get in a few laps before the rain hit.

Tuesday, saw a more successful day of testing with Rossi completing a total of 20 laps. Motogp.com reports Rossi has found a much more improved feeling and positive impression with the bike.

This afternoon at 2pm (GMT+2) [10pm AEST] Motogp.com confirmed that Rossi has decided, with a positive result from his doctor, to attempt to take part in this weekend’s Aragon GP in Spain.

Clinica Mobile, the medical team for the MotoGP paddock will conduct a final assessment of Rossi’s physical condition. He will have to be passed fit to ride by the medical team if he is to take part in Free Practice 1 (FP1). From there it will be up to Rossi to further assess his condition and feeling on the bike in the lead up to his decision on the possibility of racing on Sunday.

“I’ll have the real answer after FP1, because riding the M1 will be a much bigger challenge. We’ll see. See you in Aragon!”, Rossi said of his decision to partake in this weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix.

If Rossi is unable to compete this weekend, Movistar Yamaha will have Michael van der Mark from Pata Yamaha in the Superbike World Championship ready to step in.