Melandri Gets Medical Approval To Ride - June 21st 2006

Fortuna Honda team rider Marco Melandri, who arrived at the Assen circuit yesterday after being discharged from the Catalunya General Hospital (Barcelona), spoke to the media today for the first time since his accident.

The Italian sat and chatted with journalists, despite still suffering with stiffness in his neck, after getting the green light from doctors to return to action on his Honda RC211V tomorrow. He will undergo a further medical examination after taking part in the second free practice session.

Marco Melandri: "I am satisfied with my recovery. I would never have thought that I could be here after the accident on Sunday. For me this is a complete success. Yesterday I began a physiotherapy programme in the Clinica Mobile, which I continued with throughout today. I am really keen to get back on the bike but I'll see how I feel tomorrow. I'm still in pain and I am getting cramps and pains in places I didn't notice before. For example my right shoulder now hurts me more than my left. although my physical conditioning has helped. My objective in the short term is to recover my fitness as soon as possible.

At lunchtime Marco completed a few laps of the track on a scooter. "Assen has always been the nicest circuit in the calendar although they have changed it now. It is much shorter and looks like a lot of other circuits so I think it has lost some of its character. Tomorrow I'll know more about it after free practice.."