Marco Melandri (Aprilia Racing Team) is looking forward to getting back on track after the compulsory testing ban that will end on January 15^th. In the meantime the 31 year old Italian is still working on his physical conditions following the right ankle surgery he underwent last November - straight after the final test of 2013 at Jerez:

“I’m quite good at the moment” Melandri told WorldSBK.com  “even though I need some more time to fully recover. I still don’t have complete mobility of the ankle but yesterday I managed to move the foot sideways for the first time since I underwent surgery. I got a ligament reconstructed in the external malleolus and because of that I could only flex my foot up and down.”

“I hope to improve in the next two weeks” he continued “in order to have a decent mobility for the first test of the year. Once on the bike I will have a better idea of my conditions and I’m sure the work on track will help my recovery.”

Melandri knows how important the upcoming test sessions will be to start the season the best way and he is aware of what is still to be done:  “We’ll be testing at Portimao on 18-19-20 January. During the break I kept in touch with the team and the goal for this first outing will be to keep evaluating what we have to find the right direction of development and to further improve our RSV4.  I’m very confident because we did a great work before the testing ban, we tried both chassis and worked on some adjustments to suit my riding style. We will continue this way at Portimao, then on February we will do some fine-tuning of our package.”