More details have emerged of Rossi’s leg-breaking crash that ruled him out of at least two GPs, and possibly more. In details of a TV interview leaked to the GPOne website, the multi-champion explained how a simple tumble on an enduro ride went wrong, leaving him with displaced fractures to both bones in his lower right leg.

He was with friends and VR46 Academy riders, he said, on “a ride I’ve been doing since I was 18 – something I’ve done 200 times.”

Close to the end, on a steep downhill, going slowly, in second gear and only 400 metres from the end, they came to a rocky step. As he took it, “the handlebars moved as if I’d hit a stone”. With the weight of the bike added to his body weight, his leg snapped.

Rossi of course will miss not only his home Misano GP but also the Aragon race in a fortnight; and while there is a chance he might be able to race at the Japanese GP at Motegi three weeks later, this remains to be seen. The Japanese race is the first of three consecutive flyaway weekends, gruelling enough for fit riders.