73 days after an operation to his right shoulder, Valentino Rossi has returned to the track at Misano Adriatico aboard a Ducati 1198 Superbike.
On November 14 at Cattolica's Cervesi hospital, the Italian had undergone surgery on the supraspinatus tendon and the long head of biceps tendon, as well as cartilage in the Glenoid Labrum.
His first day on track was sunny but chilly, with a maximum air temperature of 10º C and a maximum track temperature of 15º C. At around 2pm, he turned the first laps aboard the 1198 to test the status of his shoulder which, though recovering nicely, is still quite painful, just a few days ahead of the first test in Malaysia with the Desmosedici GP11.
After the session, Rossi said: "The track more or less confirmed what we expected: the shoulder is painful - especially under braking, when the front area hurts, where they stitched the tendon. Movement is stable enough, and we're also doing not so bad with endurance, but apart from that, it hurts a lot and isn't very strong.
"Let's hope it gets a little better in these next few days before the test in Malaysia. Once we're there, we'll work with the riding position in an effort to make the most of the situation and collect important information with the Desmosedici, even though I'm not in top form.
"Today I did a total of 25 laps on the 1198 Superbike, which is sort of a 'historic' motorcycle for Ducati: beautiful and fast. I liked it!"