Rossi Injured
Now that surgery has been a success for Valentino Rossi after breaking his lower leg at Mugello Saturday, the statistical examination of his data starts unraveling, such as his injury ending 230 consecutive starts across all GP classes since his 125cc debut in Malaysia 1996.
This all comes after "The Doctor" broke his right tibia in a horrific highside crash during FP2 in Mugello. After 2.5 hours under Dr. Roberto Buzzi’s hands at the Centro Traumatologico Ortopedico in Florence, Italy, Rossi had a pin inserted to stabilize his shin bone.
Buzzi expects Rossi to "reasonably" be out of competition for six weeks, but says a revaluation will be needed before the reigning champion can compete again.
That means Rossi will definitely miss the next five rounds, including Mugello, and maybe even the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in Laguna Seca on July 25 if things aren’t fully healed. And this equals a slim chance for a 10th world title.
This is a shock to the motorcycle racing world, especially since it came at his home circuit where he was fastest at FP1 on Friday, and only nine points behind championship leader and Fiat Yamaha teammate, Jorge Lorenzo.
But despite the injury, nothing can stop the legend of Valentino Rossi. Here’s a look back at some of the statistics that make him the most analyzed racer in moto history:
• Rossi has 229 GP starts: 169 in MotoGP/500cc, 30 in 250cc and 30 in 125cc.
• After taking his ninth world title last year, Rossi has matched Mike Hailwood and Carlo Ubbiali across all classes. Only Giacomo Agostini with 15 and Angel Nieto with 13 have more.
• Rossi became the second rider in history to take 100 wins in all classes after his victory in Assen last year. Going into Mugello after three races in 2010, Rossi now has 104 victories (78 in MotoGP/500cc, 14 in 250cc, 12 in 125cc), 18 less than Agostini’s all-time record of 122.
• Rossi has the record for all-time premier class victories, 78. He already had tha Agostini’s record of 68 victories beat when he won the Indianapolis GP in 2008.
• Rossi is the most successufly Yamaha rider of all time. He has 45 wins from 105 races with Yamaha, 22 more than the manufacturer’s second most successful rider, Kenny Roberts.
• Rossi is the only rider to stand on the podium more than 100 times. Up to the 2010 French Grand Prix in Le Mans, Rossi has 167 podiums.
• Rossi is the only rider in history to win at least one GP in 15 consecutive seasons.
Stats like these are hard to match, that’s to say if they’ll ever matched, and many people in Rossi’s inner circle are speaking out about the unfortunate situation concerning the crash, such as Lin Jarvis, managing director of Yamaha Motor Racing, whose words say everything.
Lin Jarvis says "It was a very sad day today for Yamaha and the Fiat Yamaha Team, seeing Vale in so much pain and seriously injured for the first time in his career. It is especially tough for Vale to have this accident at his home Grand Prix and this will surely be a huge disappointment for him and for all his fans here at the Mugello circuit and around the world."
"As a team we are very deflated right now because we had our two riders challenging for the Championship lead and now that challenge is over – at least for the immediate future. We wish Vale the very best for a speedy recovery and hope to have him back with us as soon as possible."
The Doctor’s Updates Here at UltimateMotorCyling.com
4) Valentino Rossi Well-Wishes
5) Valentino Rossi Tibia Surgery
7) Rossi: The Day After Surgery
Stop back here for more updates and we wish Vale a very speedy recovery.
