Rossi set for Sachsenring return

The reigning world champion has already missed four races due to his broken leg, but completed 46 laps of Brno on a Yamaha Superbike on Monday.

Yamaha is prepared for Rossi's return, though he still needs to be signed off by the event's chief medical officer on Thursday.

"Compared to Misano I have felt a lot more in shape [at Brno]," Rossi told Gazzetta dello Sport. "After eight laps my shoulder and knee hurt, but I've made huge steps over the last five days. Last week everything would hurt. Being on the bike is good for me."

Rossi is eager to make his comeback as soon as possible, but will have to wait for medical clearance before finding out whether he is allowed to ride at the Sachsenring this weekend.

"Let's wait for the last medical exam," he said. "If I decide to come back it means I'm able to do it. It won't be a crazy thing. But I've really grown tired of staying home. I'll need a couple of races to be competitive again: I expect to be able to show what I can do at Misano."

During his Superbike test, Rossi set a best laptime of 1m59.7s with race tyres, mirroring that of race winner Max Biaggi the previous day.

Wataru Yoshikawa, who stood in for Rossi at Catalunya, will be in Germany in case Rossi is unable to race, but the 41-year-old Japanese admitted that he has been surprised by Rossi's recovery.

"Though only one month has passed since Mugello, Valentino is back and I am amazed at the marvellous recovery he has made. I respect his decision to try to ride and it seems from the R1 test he did that he is still very fast.

"I am ready to ride if I need to, but it will be good if Valentino is back in his rightful place. I have learnt a lot riding the M1 in a racing environment and I think it will be useful in my future development work."