Valentino Rossi admits losing a shot at an eighth MotoGP world title has been worse for him than the pain from his leg fracture.
The Yamaha rider sustained a fracture to his right tibia and fibula while out riding his enduro bike with some friends in Italy last week.
The Italian underwent surgery last Friday morning, with a recovery time expected to be at least 30–40 days.
This has ruled him out of his home race at Misano this weekend – something he admits has also been hard to take – and will likely see him miss the Aragon Grand Prix in two weeks.
“The leg is painful, but in general I feel good,” Rossi said in an interview with motogp.com.
“But is a lot worse the mental condition because it was a great, great shame throwing away all the chance for the championship, and also to race in Misano in my home grand prix, in front of all of the crowd is a great, great shame.
“Unfortunately it’s like this and now we have to work to come back as soon as possible.”
Since his accident, the use of dirt bikes for training purposes has come under the spot light, though many riders believe it is the only way to prepare for MotoGP.
Rossi agrees with this point of view, but having hurt himself already this year prior to the Italian Grand Prix while riding a motocross bike the Italian admits he may need to consider alternate training options.
“We speak a lot about this. For us, we are motorcycle riders and the best (way to) train is ride a motorcycle.
“Unfortunately, sometimes more, sometimes less, when you are on a motorcycle it is dangerous.
“We cannot train sometimes without the motorcycle, because it is very important.
“Unfortunately this year it happened to me two times, before Mugello, so we need to make in another way.”
Rossi says his leg is in a better shape than what it was when he broke it in 2010 and has already begun physiotherapy, but admits it is still too early to know when he will race again.
“I learn from the other time that in this phase, in this part of the rehabilitation, you have to live day by day.
“It depends very much on the leg, on the pain. We already work, we try to come back as soon as possible.
“The next race after Misano is Aragon, but I think it will be very, very hard because it’s just 22 days after the injury, so just three weeks.
“We need, like, double or a minimum 40 days. Last time I come back after 40 days, but this time the fracture is better, is less painful, but it’s very early to say.
“If I’m not able in Aragon, I will try in Motegi.”
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