Source: Supplied.

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi overcame a freshly-broken leg to finish in a fine fifth-place at the Aragon grand prix, defying the odds for a remarkable result just three weeks after undergoing surgery.

Starting from the front row, Rossi threatened to take the lead in the early race laps before settling into fifth place, which he held over the line directly behind teammate Maverick Viñales.

Seeing Jorge Lorenzo trying to take off at the front on the first lap, the Doctor wasn’t about to waste any time and responded by passing his teammate a couple of corners later. He set a provisional fastest lap on lap two of 1m49.334s as he chased down his rival and soon closed the gap.

With 11 laps to go, fatigue had the number 46 rider slow down a couple of tenths, allowing eventual winner Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa through, but he still had some fighting spirit left. He had the fans hold their breath as he battled hard with his teammate for fourth position, but ultimately took the chequered flag in fifth, 5.882s from the front.

“I’m quite proud, because a week ago I didn’t know if I would be able to race,” Rossi said. “Achieving a start from the first row yesterday was already great, I was very happy. I knew I had to suffer in the second half of the race – I had some pain and we also suffered from the degradation of the tyre.

“The work continues after this race. The calendar works out well for me, I have two full weeks to train and improve my leg’s condition. After this we have Motegi, which is going to be very important, but we also have three races in a row. This will be very difficult for my leg, so I want to try to arrive in Motegi – maybe not at 100 percent – but quite fit.”

Despite his brave ride, Rossi dropped one position to fifth in the rankings, however he’s one step closer to competing at full fitness once the Japanese grand prix arrives in three weeks’ time.