Valentino Rossi has finally explained why he does so many laps on the new R1 at Misano, saying it is good training instead of always riding motocross or flat track.

The Doctor puts regular updates on social media of himself lapping his local track on an R1 road bike, which gave rise firstly to speciulation he was practicing for the Suzuka Eight-Hours and then he was prepping for his VR46 team to enter World Superbikes, but he says it is neither.

“We train a lot with the bike for physical instead of going with motocross or flat-track. We have a deal with Misano especially for the young guys of the academy and I go with the R1 because it is a fantastic bike,” said Rossi, speaking at Brno.

“Sincerely, is very different from the M1, the lines, the braking, so is not comparable but for me for physical, with the hot conditions, is good training.”