MotoGP: Rossi passed fit to ride at Aragon

Valentino Rossi has been passed fit to ride at this weekend’s Aragon round of the 2017 MotoGP championship, only twenty days after breaking his leg in an enduro crash. The Movistar Yamaha was given the OK by the circuit medical director Clemente Millan and will attempt to ride in tomorrow’s free practice one session.

The Italian says he’s feeling up to the task, however, admitting at the pre event press conference that he’s been feeling a lot better than he was the last time he broke his leg – and says he’s confident that he can be competitive in this weekend’s race.

“First of all, I’m happy to be able to try. I need to understand the feeling with a MotoGP bike, because it’s a bit different from an R1, but in general I feel good with not too much pain and getting better every day. I tried in Misano and it hurt but it wasn’t too much pain.

“It’s very important to be back now though, to help us to improve and to come back for the next three at a stronger level quicker. We’ll see what happens now tomorrow when I get on the bike.”

The news will come as a disappointment to replacement rider Michael van der Mark, already in Aragon and ready to ride if Rossi discovers tomorrow that his fitness isn’t up to the level he was hoping – but the Dutch WSB rider says that he came into the weekend prepared for that exact possibility.

“I knew that Valentino would try, and I always kept that in mind. I didn’t really focus only on riding on Friday morning, instead waiting and seeing. It’s incredible what he did, but in his place I would have done the same! So I’m just happy that Yamaha asked me to come here in case I needed to ride the bike.