Valentino Rossi secures point-scoring comeback drive at Hockenheim

Rossi and teammate Maxime Martin finished eighth and seventh in the two one-hour sprints in Germany.

The MotoGP qualified a drab 35th out of 41 cars on Saturday morning.

But he avoided a series of spins and crashes and, within a few opening laps, made up 10 positions in Race 1.

He handed over duties to Martin who brought home their Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 27 places further forward than they started.

Martin fought from eighth up to P3 in the starting stint of Race 2, but Rossi later lost time during a slow pitstop.

They were forced to settle for P7.

The championship returns in two weeks in Valencia, a track that the two-wheel legend knows very well.