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In practice he claimed 7th:
Valentino Rossi came an impressive seventh in Friday’s free practice for the German MotoGP, just six weeks after breaking his right leg.
The seven-time MotoGP world champion has missed four races since his crash but was only marginally slower than Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.
Dani Pedrosa was fastest ahead of Ducati’s Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden.
“Once again Valentino surprised us all,” said Rossi’s boss Davide Brivio. “It’s a lot better than expected.”
When Rossi crashed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello in June, he was told he could expect to be out for up to five months, and it was the first time he had missed a race in his professional career.
But he staged a miraculous recovery to return after just four races out.
In baking hot conditions at the East German Sachsenring circuit, Rossi’s quickest lap time was one minute 23.244 seconds, and for much of the session he was in with the top four fastest riders.
“From a team point of view it was like he had never been away, working on the suspension and searching for the best set up,” said Brivio.
“His physical condition isn’t too bad, a bit more difficult in the right-hand corners and okay on the left.”
After the session, Rossi applied ice to his injured leg, but was cautiously upbeat about his performance.
“I am a lot more agile on the bike than I was in the tests,” he said.
“I feel good and this track is helping me because a lot of it turns to the left.
“I am feeling quite confident on the bike and also my shoulder is good and not giving me problems. Now I have some pain in the leg and ankle but it’s not too bad.”
During his absence, Rossi has slipped to seventh in the world rankings, and now lies 104 points behind championship leader Lorenzo.
Incredible 4th in the race:
Dani Pedrosa ended Jorge Lorenzo’s three-race winning streak with victory in the German MotoGP at Sachsenring.
The race was restarted and reduced to 21 laps after a three-bike crash on lap nine involving Randy de Puniet, Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista.
With the front two well clear the main drama was the battle between Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi for third.
Stoner edged it but Rossi’s fourth place was remarkable as it was his comeback six weeks after a broken leg.
In both races, Pedrosa started superbly, passing pole-sitter Lorenzo, only for the championship leader to get back into front spot.
But in the second race, he could not shake off the Honda rider and on lap nine Pedrosa took the lead and never let it go.
Despite seeing his winning run coming to an end, after the race Lorenzo told BBC Sport he was happy with his day’s work.
“Dani had more pace than me, it was impossible to follow,” said Lorenzo.
“He did a splendid race and it was impossible to catch him – second place is very positive for the championship.”
Stoner also said he was satisfied to be on the podium, having held off a spirited assault from Rossi.
“We thought we had faster pace but it was nothing compared to Jorge and Dani,” Stoner added.
“I did the best job I could – I thought Valentino would get past me and take off, but I dragged everything I could out of the bike. Third place is something I didn’t expect halfway through the race.”
Rossi said he had never been so pleased with a fourth-place finish, but said Stoner had only raised his game once the Italian had caught up with him.
“When he saw me he really let loose, but MotoGP needs these type of races,” he said.
“The next time I should wear the colours of some other rider. If Stoner had finished behind me he would have whined like he did at [the US Grand Prix at] Laguna Seca in the past years, but this is racing.”
Whilst Rossi celebrated his remarkable comeback, de Puniet experienced precisely the opposite emotion, being diagnosed with a broken tibia and fibula in his left leg as a result of the crash.
German MotoGP race result:
1 D Pedrosa (Sp) Repsol Honda 28mins 50.476secs
2 J Lorenzo (Sp) Fiat Yamaha 28:53.831
3 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 28:55.733
4 V Rossi (It) Fiat Yamaha 28:56.099
5 A Dovizioso (It) Repsol Honda 29:07.634
6 M Simoncelli (It) San Carlo Honda Gresini 29:08.233
7 N Hayden (US) Ducati 29:08.411
8 B Spies (US) Tech 3 Yamaha 29:11.433
9 H Barbera (Sp) Aspar Ducati 29:12.476
10 M Melandri (Ita) San Carlo Gresini Honda 29:25.693
11 L Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki 29:35.518
12 A de Angelis (SM) Interwetten Honda 29:35.680MotoGP championship standings:
1 J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha 185 points
2 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda 138
3 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 102
4 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 83
5 N Hayden (USA) Ducati 78
6 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 74
7 R de Puniet (Fr) Honda 69
8 B Spies (USA) Yamaha 67
9 M Simoncelli (Ita) Honda 49
10 M Melandri (Ita) Honda 45,
11 H Barbera (Sp) Ducati 41
12 C Edwards (USA) Yamaha 39
13 L Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki 30
14 A Espargaro (Sp) Ducati 28
15 A Bautista (Sp) Suzuki 25
16 M Kallio (FIN) Ducati 24,
17 H Aoyama (Jpn) Honda 18
18 A de Angelis (SM) Honda 4
19 K Akiyoshi (Jpn) Honda 4,
20 W Yoshikawa (Jpn) Yamaha 1Source:
https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/8832262.stmmade me pretty emotional tbh, how cool would a win against Stoner and a 3rd place have been tho. Well done Rossi, you is awesome!
Yes he sure is amazing,the thing that got me was the video clip of his shakedown practice at Brno on the WSB machine, he got off the bike, was handed his calipers, and walked/hopped into the pit still in all of his gear.It sort of made me realise how brutally dangerous the sport really is.
See video at foot of page.
https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/8795830.stm
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