MotoGP: Valentino Rossi To Ride This Weekend at Aragon
Rennie Scaysbrook | September 20, 2017
The Doctor will ride FP1 to on the Yamaha YZR-M1 to test his fitness.
Valentino Rossi will attempt to compete at Aragon, barely 20 days after breaking his leg.
Valentino Rossi will attempt to ride this weekend at the Aragon MotoGP, barely 20 days after breaking his leg in an enduro training accident.
Rossi, still with a slim hope of capturing that elusive 10th World Championship win but 42 points behind dual title leaders Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso, tested first a Yamaha YZF-R6 and then a Yamaha YZF-R1M at Misano over two days, and declared he was will to at least attempt to ride at Aragon on the much more physically demanding YZR-M1 MotoGP machine.
“Fortunately, yesterday I had a good test with my YZF-R1M in Misano,” Rossi said. “I tried also the day before, but the rain stopped me after a few laps. Yesterday (Tuesday) I managed to complete 20 laps and find the answers I was looking for. Eventually, the test was positive and I want to say thanks to Dr. Lucidi and his staff, who helped me find the best solutions to feel the least amount of pain possible in my leg when I’m riding. Obviously at the end of the test I was in a little bit of pain, but this morning I went to Dr. Pascarella for a medical check, and it came out with a positive result. At the end I decided I will leave for Aragón and will try to ride my M1 this weekend. If I will be declared fit to ride, 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’s resolve to ride at Aragon comes at the expense of WorldSBK ring-in, Michael van der Mark, who was earmarked to ride the vacant M1 in what would have been his MotoGP debut. He will still be in attendance at Aragon, and could still be called up if Rossi chooses not to race.
