Valentino Rossi finished a test ride at the Brno track on Monday on a YZF-R1 world superbike engine, as he and the Fiat Yamaha squad endured extra assessments of the Italian’s physical health.

After completing 46 laps with a best time in the 1’59.1 area, the World Champion stated that he felt less agony than last Wednesday’s test at Misano, which was his initial time back on a bike following his fracture to his right tibia in early June.

“I’m very happy with how it went, I felt much better than in Misano – last week was pretty hard but I feel better and better and we have had five days between those two tests. This time my knee and shoulder didn’t hurt as much,” says Rossi.

A decision will be made on whether he can attempt a comeback at Sachsenring this weekend on Wednesday, following X-rays to determine the stage of healing.

“Now I’ll have to wait to take a decision on Wednesday after we have some X-rays as to whether I race or not in Germany. Doing a full race will be a different story, but I still have another couple of days to get a bit better,” states Rossi.

“Racing in the next two races would be important in order to be in good shape in Brno (on August 15th), however I think we’ll have to wait until Misano (on September 5th) to be fully competitive.”

Rossi ended a session of runs via the YZF-R1, which was arranged for him by the Yamaha WSB squad, his final conclusion of how he felt was encouraging.

“Riding the YZF-R1 was good fun, I have to thank the team for preparing the bike for me,” he says. “We had to work a bit on my leg before checking the bike set-up. It went well and I managed some good lap times, it’s a good way to get back into action.”