MotoGP: Valentino Rossi to test in Misano today
Valentino Rossi will be taking to the track at Misano World Circuit in Italy today. This will be the first time that Rossi will be onboard a bike since his injury during the practice session prior to the Italian Grand Prix 2010. It seems that the Italian has made quite a speedy recovery since breaking his ankle and injuring his shoulder on the 5th of June, 2010.
Rossi will be riding the Yamaha YZF-R1 in this private test session. The bike comes from the Yamaha World Superbike team since the Fiat Yamaha team won’t be able to use the Yamaha M1 machine that is normally used in MotoGP races due to testing restrictions. This test should be the first major indication Rossi’s progress after his injury and should give him, his team and his doctors the real feel as to how his rehabilitation regime will continue.
This is the first major injury that Valentino Rossi has suffered in his career. Surprisingly, this was also the first time that Rossi has ever missed a race in his professional years. Rossi has taken part in 230 races in the last 14 years and it is surprising that the Italian has not missed a single one of them. Returning to the bike only after a month of the crash speaks volumes of his resolve and just goes to show the kind of material that champions are made of.
Speaking to his fans from his home in Tavullia before last weekend’s race in Spain, he felt very pleased with his rate of recovery and seemed hopeful that he would return to racing by the Czech Grand Prix at Bruno. He said that he missed his ’normal life’ referring to being on top of a bike in the midst of the action. At that time, he was very happy with the speed of recovery of his leg but seemed to show some concerns with his shoulder injury.
In his absence, Yamaha had to turn to Wataru Yoshikawa as his replacement. The 41-year-old took over racing duties on the last weekend after the Yamaha team opted to run Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo as their solo representative in the three races prior to that in Silverstone, Assen and Mugello. The objective of the run was to gather testing data. After qualifying, Lorenzo raced at a pedestrian pace to finish at the fifteenth place and claim one championship point. Rossi was extremely exhausted when he took his helmet off after the race.
Rossi is currently the defending World Champion but after his absence for much of the season, it seems that there will be a change in guard at the top. It’s his Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo who seems to be in contention to take the title this year as he now enjoys a 53 point lead in the Championship over his nearest rival Dani Pedrosa. But even prior to Rossi’s accident, it was Lorenzo who was already in the lead and Rossi had the uphill task of taking the battle to him.
But if we know anything about Rossi, it is that he loves to race against the odds. His recovery is a physical battle for him but when he comes back, the mental challenge will start. Rossi might not be able to take the title by the end of this year, but what we can expect from him is to prove to Lorenzo that he is still the best rider that MotoGP has ever seen. What we will be keeping an eye on is a mini battle for points between Lorenzo and Rossi to see how their cumulative scores are in those races where Rossi is expected to race in this season. Lorenzo will be eager to dominate while Rossi will be setting up the battleground for next year’s championship battle when he will be itching to reclaim his crown.
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