Valentino Rossi has made his debut as an official Ducati rider, taking part in a test at Misano in Italy aboard a race-spec 1198 Superbike.

Just 73 days after an operation to his right shoulder, Rossi returned to the track to test his recovery before going on to Malaysia for the Sepang MotoGP test next week.

“First of all, thanks to Filippo [Preziosi] and to Ducati, who organised this test,” said Rossi. “Misano Circuit let us use the track on a day when Mattia [Pasini] was planning to ride in order to confirm his own condition.

“The track more or less confirmed what we expected – the shoulder is painful – especially under braking, when the front area hurts, where they stitched the tendon.

“Movement is stable enough, and we’re also doing not so bad with endurance, but apart from that, it hurts a lot and isn’t very strong. Let’s hope it gets a little better in these next few days before the test in Malaysia.

“Once we’re there, we’ll work with the riding position in an effort to make the most of the situation and collect important information with the Desmosedici, even though I’m not in top form.

“Today I did a total of 25 laps on the 1198 Superbike, which is sort of a ‘historic’ motorcycle for Ducati. [It is] beautiful and fast – I liked it!”

Rossi arrived at the circuit at around 1:20pm and met a team of Ducati technicians that included his own crew’s two engineers, Matteo Flamigni and Gabriele Conti, as well as Ducati Marlboro team manager Vittoriano Guareschi.

A half-hour later, he turned the first laps aboard the 1198 to test the status of his shoulder.