Valentino Rossi should thank the Iceland volcano for giving him an extra week to prepare for the next MotoGP event. Rossi, who is the defending MotoGP champ, injured his shoulder shortly after winning the opening round of the MotoGP season in Qatar. If last weekend’s race in Japan went as scheduled, Rossi might not have been healthy enough to compete, or at least healthy enough to compete well. But the cloud of volcanic ash postponed the Grandprix in Japan until October 3rd, giving Rossi a much needed break to rest up for this weekends event in Spain.
"Of course it was a pity not to go to Japan, Yamaha's home race, but we will go in October now and for me it was quite lucky to have this extra week,” said Rossi. “I didn't hurt myself badly in the motocross fall but my shoulder was quite sore so it was good to give it more time to recover. I don't know yet how much it will affect me this weekend, I hope not too much.”
Rossi has had a lot of success around the Jerez track. He won in both 2007 and 2009, and took second in 2008.
“I love to race at Jerez, the atmosphere is amazing and I have fantastic fans in Spain,’ said the Italian superstar. “Last year I had a great win and I hope we can challenge again this time.”
