Valentino Rossi says he is keen to bounce back from his first Ducati DNF with a good performance at the Australian Grand Prix, even if he admits the state of his injured finger remains something of an unknown to him.
Rossi failed to finish the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi after crashing on the opening lap, a fall that also caused him to break his finger.
Ruling him out of a recent test aboard the Ducati GP12, Rossi will nonetheless be present for the Australian race at Phillip Island, where he is keen to build on what was a promising outing in Japan, prior to his crash.
Even so, the Italian concedes he won't know how his finger will react to the rigours of MotoGP riding until he gets on the bike for Friday practice.
“At Motegi, despite the outcome of the race and what the consequences of the crash turned out to be, there were a number of positive aspects. We worked well on the bike's balance and setup, and in the end, from that point of view, we had one of the most positive weekends of the season.
“Phillip Island is another track where the Ducati has always gone well, as have I, so we hope to be able to work as well as we did in Japan. As far as my hand is concerned, the swelling is reduced, and we still have a couple of days before we go on the track. We just have to wait for Friday morning to see how it reacts.”
source: crash
