MotoGP News
After undergoing successful surgery on his shoulder last Sunday, Valentino Rossi commented for the first time, discussing his recovery and the February tests in Sepang, the first official event of the 2011 MotoGP season.
After his operation, his surgeon, Dr. Alessandro Castagna, told the nine-time World Champion that recovery would take up to 90 days.
On Thursday, the 31-year-old MotoGP Champ spoke about his recovery to the crew of Italian broadcaster Mediaset’s humorous show “Striscia la Notizia.”
Valentino Rossi says: “I’m pretty bad and it’s very painful, but that’s normal in the days that follow an operation. I’m finding it difficult to sleep. The operation went well.”
“Everything is how it should be. My arm is immobilized, and the shoulder is expected to recover 100 percent. Now it’s just a question of time, I have to be calm, patient, and to wait.”
“The shoulder was much worse than we suspected and the operation lasted twice as long as was planned. The tendons which we thought were a little bit affected were in fact completely damaged.”
Valentino Rossi says: “Now I have a shoulder which is like new, and I’m eager to try it out. I hope to be fit for February 1st, the first Test of 2011, and ride the Ducati.”
The then Fiat Yamaha MotoGP rider injured his right shoulder during an accident April 15 while motocross training in Pesaro in Italy. The accident occurred before Round 2 of the 2010 MotoGP season in Jerez, but Rossi still managed a third-place finish behind Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa and race winner and teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
This was Rossi’s first injury of the 2010 MotoGP season, preceding his horrific accident during practice in Mugello. During that wreck, Rossi broke his leg and missed that race and the subsequent three.
This was the Rossi failed to start an event in his professional racing career. If he started at Mugello, it would have been his 231st consecutive start across all classes.
On top of the broken tibia, Rossi soon learned the shoulder injury appeared worse than expected; Rossi injured a tendon during the MX wreck, but never had any treatment.
Rossi finished the 2010 MotoGP season in third place overall, and has joined the Ducati Team. Rossi will be teammates with Nicky Hayden.
During the traditional post-season tests at Valencia, Rossi could only manage 10th fastest on the first day, and 15th fastest on the second day aboard the Ducati GP11.
