Before leaving for the all-important Pacific Tour, with three consecutive races in Japan, Australia and Malaysia, Valentino tested his recovering leg again at the Marco Simoncelli circuit right near his home.
Taking into account his fractures, his Aragon Grand Prix went magnificently well, with the third fastest time in qualifying, one tenth of the pole position of Maverick Vinales, and with fifth place in the race which allowed Vale to score valuable points.
Everything did not go as he would have liked: “ The drop in performance of the rear tire penalized me, which also happened to Viñales. Currently, the Honda and Ducati are dropping less in the second part of the race. »
On a physical level, runningAragon was rather a source of satisfaction for Rossi: “ We worked a lot with doctors and physiotherapists, but I also trained the rest of the body with the Grand Prix in mind. »
“In the last laps in Aragon, I was pretty tired. I wasn't as close to the bike as I could have been, but I pushed it all the way to the end and I'm happy with that. In 2010, when I broke my leg, I skipped 4 races and I needed a lot of time to recover the automatisms, that's why I wanted to race in Aragon. Now the work will continue and I will try to improve for Motegi. »
The physical test that Valentino underwent on the Misano circuit with the R1 seems to have been satisfactory and Rossi is therefore preparing to take the plane to Japan with confidence.
Photos © VR46 GoPro
