MotoGP veteran Valentino Rossi broke his leg in an enduro training accident on August 31. He experienced fractures of the tibia and fibula of his right leg. That didn’t stop the rider from not only making a speedy recovery, but also performing impressively at Aragon. So much so, that his rivals admitted that they were impressed by the ace’s performance.
After missing his home grand prix at Misano, Rossi made his return at Aragon just 22 days after his crash. The maestro managed to stun the paddock when he qualified on the front row on Saturday. Rossi was running in second place behind Jorge Lorenzo for 11 laps after the start, convincing everyone he was going to finish second. But, the race at Aragon was exceptionally lengthy and hot which put a lot of physical stress on the riders. Nonetheless, Rossi managed to finish fifth just 6sec behind the race winner Marc Marquez.
Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales, who finished fourth, said at one point he thought Rossi would win the race. Vinales was quoted saying, “He did a really good race; when I saw him at the front, I thought he'd win the race for sure, if he's strong at the beginning, I can imagine at the end (he would be as well) because normally he comes better at the end. He came back strong like always, especially in the race.”
Race-winner Marquez was so impressed by Rossi, he went on to say, “It's incredible to be here after this kind of fracture, I think nobody did (expect it), his talent makes the difference. (It's) also incredible that he finished only five tenths behind Vinales with the same bike, because he is still injured.”
Lorenzo, who finished third, went on to say, “It's impressive all weekend, the way he qualified, but especially the way he recovered. It's not the same, the body of a 38-year-old and the body of a 15-year-old, that all the recovery's much quicker. And it's impressive.”