Viñales finally rides a MotoGP bike again to test his shoulder before Motegi

Maverick Viñales returned to a MotoGP bike at the Red Bull Ring on Monday, his first appearance on a premier-class machine since the German Grand Prix in July. The Tech3 rider used the day primarily to assess his left shoulder after several weeks of rehabilitation and four consecutive missed Grands Prix.

His target remains a comeback at Motegi, but no final medical conclusion has yet been announced after the test. Simply being able to take part is nevertheless an important step: Viñales needed the specific loads of a MotoGP bike to understand whether his shoulder can again tolerate the braking, direction changes and repeated effort of a race weekend.