Valentino Rossi says he will not really know how well his injured shoulder has recovered until practice at Jerez this afternoon. The MotoGP champion suffered only minor injuries when he fell from a motocross bike a fortnight ago, but admitted that he was still in discomfort.
When asked if he was now fully fit, Rossi replied: "Unfortunately not. I have some pain and for me it was very lucky that Motegi was postponed, because for sure last week was more difficult than now. I had one extra week to work on my shoulder and I improved very much, but I still have some pain anyway. I need to wait until [practice] to understand how it is on the bike."
He explained that because the injury was in an awkward position, it was hard to simulate how it would feel until he was up to speed on the bike.
"The shoulder does a lot of different things," said Rossi. "For some movements, I have no problems. For some other movements, I have a lot of pain.
"I have strength in my hand, but some pain in my shoulder, so I need to wait to understand my situation."