Valentino Rossi hopeful on shoulder fitness

Valentino Rossi is hoping a lingering right shouder injury won’t prove a handicap as he concentrates on stopping Jorge Lorenzo’s brilliant early season charge in Mugello this weekend.

The 31-year-old is desperate to win his home race for a tenth time on Sunday as he aims to reduce a nine-point deficit on in-form Spaniard Lorenzo.

Pivotal to Rossi’s hopes will the recovery of the right shoulder injury he suffered in April during a motocross training accident.

The Fiat Yamaha rider said: “After another rest I hope my shoulder is fully recovered and that I will be back to full strength for Mugello, my home race.

“We had some problems in Le Mans so we will be working hard from the first session to make sure that we’re back to our best.

“Mugello is an incredible place to ride a motorcycle, there is nowhere else like it in the world and when you go out for the first lap the sound is something amazing.

“I always look forward to racing there and I hope we will be in good shape this weekend.”

Rossi was reluctant to blame his shoulder as the prime reason for his resounding defeat to Lorenzo at the last race in Le Mans.

But Aussie crew chief Jerry Burgess reckons the stretched tendons and ligaments are having an impact on Rossi’s riding.

Assessing the Le Mans race, Burgess said: “Valentino initially felt that he didn’t have the grip on acceleration that Jorge had. But after 12 laps he had forgotten what he told me on Saturday night and that was after a few laps he was buggered. 

“When we looked at the data and saw that his braking distances became a lot longer and he was having problems in the chicanes, I think a big part of it was in his shoulder.

“I think braking earlier and getting into the corner slower than normal meant he used the throttle a bit more to try and get out of the corner and that used the rear tyre more and that’s why he felt it was a set-up issue more than the shoulder.”