While Valentino Rossi wasn’t at the Mugello and for this first time in his career missed a race start following surgery to repair his broken right tibia after Saturday’s highside, the Italian wasn’t going to miss the race, albeit watching it from his hospital room at the CTO hospital in Florence surrounded by his parents Graziano and Stefania, stepbrother Luca, girlfriend Marwa and the inseparable Uccio.
Rossi called Italia 1 just before the race and starting joking with the commentators and reassuring all his fans that he was okay and thanking the other riders for their support (the circuit was awash with signs wishing Valentino well and Lorenzo held up a message for Rossi saying “Everyone can feel pain, but not everyone can be a legend”, Marco Simoncelli with his own card while the whole of the Ducati grandstand displayed the word “Vale” with white cards.
)It was a bad fall, a bad injury, but I’m doing well because I’ve found,” added jokingly Rossi “have a great relationship with morphine.
The operation went well, Professor Buzzi worked well and looked after me as one of his family and Monday there will be another operation to close the wound, then I’ll think about rehabilitation.
When asked who he wanted to win Rossi laughing said “I hope no one wins” and he was then patched through the circuit PA system where he said he missed everyone and would be back soon, causing a big and emotional reaction from his yellow clad fans.