Valentino Rossi undecided on shock Germany return

Valentino Rossi is undecided about whether to make a shock return from injury at next weekend’s German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring.

The Italian icon made a surprise return to action in Misano yesterday when he rode a Yamaha R1 World Superbike machine to gauge his fitness ahead of a planned return in Germany. 

Rossi’s appearance came only 32 days after he broke his right leg in a practice crash for his home race in Mugello in early June.

Rossi has been undergoing an intensive rehabilitation and if he did comeback at the Sachsenring he would be riding just 41 days after his horrific Italian Grand Prix high-side.

The 31-year-old rode a total of 26 laps at Misano and recorded a best time of 1’38.200.

Rossi did an initial run of 11 laps with a best time of 1.41.000, then a second run of 15 laps shortly before 8pm local time with a best time of 1’38.200.

The reigning world champion was able to ride well but he had some pain in his leg and his shoulder. He will now continue with an updated rehabilitation programme and make a decision within the next week as to whether he will ride at the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring.

The Fiat Yamaha rider said: “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.

“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.

“We still have twelve days and we must wait and see how much we can improve my condition in the next few days. The Superbike today was good and great fun to ride! I really would like to ride at Sachsenring, but we must wait another week before making a decision.”