MotoGP Rocked by Rossi Crocked Shock

Valentino Rossi was practicing for his 231st straight Grand Prix motorcycle race when his luck finally ran out. "The Doctor" will be under the care of real doctors for some time while he recovers from serious injury.

The 9 time world champion was taking part in a practice session for Sunday's MotoGP race at Mugello when he suffered one of the worst crashes we've seen this year. The FIAT Yamaha M1 brutally highsided the Italian, flinging him high into the air at 120mph before he slammed into the tarmac and tumbled violently through a gravel trap.

When he came to rest, Rossi was lying in agony, clutching his badly broken lower leg. Some of the thousands of yellow-clad Valentino Rossi fans were in tears of shock as they watched their hero writhe in pain. Valentino did manage a wave to the crowd as he was loaded into the medevac helicopter, presumably after a decent dose of strong painkillers.

Surgeons have now operated to bolt Rossi's leg back together and stitch the wound shut. Even in the deranged world of motorcycle racing medicine, this is a serious injury, and it will be at least 6 to 8 weeks before the champ can race again. This would mean missing at least 4 races, so his title ambitions are in tatters.

As Rossi has never missed a GP race before, it is impossible to tell how eager he will be to return. Will he come back too early, as most racers try to do? Or will he take it easy and try to heal fully, as cheating F1 champ Michael Schumacher did when he broke his lower leg. (Legend has it that Schumacher was in no hurry to race with no championship chances, and was finally ordered back into the car when the boss of Ferrari called and his kid answered the phone, saying "Daddy's just getting his football boots.")

It'll be very strange watching MotoGP, knowing that the Greatest Of All Time is sitting at home watching the race on telly with Uccio and a couple of chilled bottles of Nastro Azzurro.

Jorge Lorenzo looks like a major favourite for this year's MotoGP title (he was already kicking Rossi's ass before the injury.) Dani Pedrosa is still struggling to tame the Repsol Honda, and Casey Stoner is still flinging the Ducati at every gravel trap in sight.

It'll be hard for Rossi to watch, especially if his team-mate snatches the title.

Get well soon, Valentino.