MotoGP News
It’s official – Valentino Rossi will compete at this weekend’s German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, Round 8 of the MotoGP Championship.
The 31-year-old Italian was examined by Dr. Hubert Fischer, the Chief Medical Officer at Sachsenring, and was found fit enough to remount his Fiat Yamaha M1 for this weekend’s race.
The nine-time world champion sustained a compound fracture to his right leg after a nasty highside during practice for Mugello just 39 days ago.
After going through a rigorous rehabilitation program while recovering at home, Rossi began testing on a World Superbike Yamaha R1, first in Misano last week and then in Brno this past Monday. During the Brno test, "The Doctor" set lap times that would have placed him on the front row in Brno’s World Superbike race.
When Rossi crashed at Mugello, he missed that race and the subsequent rounds in Silverstone, Assen and Catalunya. This dropped him from second in the championship to seventh with 61 points.
Rossi’s teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, leads the championship with 165 out of 175 available points. But with 11 rounds left, a total of 275 points are available. VR 46 would have to immediately start dominating to have a chance at his 10th world title, which would be his eight in the premier class.
Also, following his unfortunate accident at Mugello, Rossi broke his record of possibly 230 consecutive GP starts at Silverstone. The only other rider to have surpassed the 200 mark is Max Biaggi, the current leader in the World Superbike Championship. Biaggi completed 201 consecutive GPs ranging from Donington 1992 to Valencia 2005.