The return of Valentino Rossi during the Aragon Grand Prix, 23 days after his double leg fracture, surprised the entire paddock even more as the Italian driver's performances were anything but mediocre...
It's once again the excellent Manuel Pecino which provides some interesting clarifications by questioning Angel Charté, the medical director of the world championship.
Despite six years already spent in this role, and 35 years in the profession, he is still surprised by the speed with which Grand Prix drivers recover: « All the injuries I see in MotoGP surprise me, because if they had happened to a person from the street or to me, we would be in the hospital for a few more months. We have to remember the injury we reduced for Lorenzo in Holland, and three days later he was sixth, because it's the same thing that happened with Rossi. It's surprising and it leaves me perplexed that pilots can recover at this speed, it's not normal. After hearing rumors that have been circulating, I can faithfully testify to the injury Valentino suffered from day one, the excellent surgery by Dr. Pascuale in Italy, and the rigorous review of the radiological tests performed for Rossi. From then on, I personally followed this development two or three times a day. Valentino was not 100% in Aragon, that's obvious, he had a hematoma on his ankle due to the intramedullary nail that had been placed with two incisions, one at the top of the shin and one at the bottom of the shin. The evolution has been very good. 12 hours after surgery, Valentino was already performing rehabilitation exercises. »
Angel Charté insists on the fact that the speed and quality of the surgical operation played a big role in the recovery of the Yamaha rider, as did the progress made by medicine in this type of operation: “it was an excellent operation because the surgeon Pascuale immediately decided to surgically intervene on Valentino, and secondly, I must say that when I see good work in a colleague, Italian, Romanian or Argentinian, I say it. This is why I say that Doctor Pascuale performed an excellent procedure. I insist, excellent! Indeed, medicine has progressed. Rossi said the injury he had 10 years ago was very different, compared to this one. At that time it was 40 days, while he was in Aragon, 23 days after his injury. I imagine that in 20 years, even if I don't see it because I might be dead, surgery will have evolved so much that these types of injuries will be resolved in three or four days. It's like that. It is a less invasive surgery. It involves making a longitudinal incision with these new endometrial nails which are more practical for these pilots. For me or a normal person, it would take 30 days longer, because our constitution and other factors are different. »
However, the recovery is still not complete, and if Valentino Rossi was able to achieve a feat in Aragon, it is by taking risks that can be described as measured, the Yamaha rider being traditionally the one who falls the least in MotoGP (see here).
“Bone calcium begins to form, but it is not completely stabilized. Stability comes from the nail. One of the risks of this type of injury is shock, because calcium is not yet one hundred percent formed. It's at 50 or 60%. Any trauma to this area could undo the nail, that's obvious. But that doesn't stop him from running. »
As Valentino Rossi said (see here), a hyperbaric chamber was not used, because not only is it not proven to accelerate calcification, and in any case the time between the operation and the race was too short for it can be used.
There remains the case of the painkillers taken by Valentino Rossi, which Doctor Angel Charté wishes to shed light on: “there is a medical pharmacological code that we call doping. This code must be maintained. We use a number of non-doping drugs. We only use a series of corticosteroids that are completely authorized and justified with the signature of the medical director of the anti-doping committee. Valentino Rossi was not infiltrated at any time. He took anti-inflammatory drugs not listed in the anti-doping code. And I say this because I personally followed his medication. Unauthorized medications were not used at any time. I would have acted against my personal judgment and against professional ethics if this had happened. I can assure you that with Rossi, as with any World Championship driver, I am extremely attentive to this type of injury. Whether for Valentino or the latest Moto3 rider, we always use the pharmacology found in the medical pharmacological code. I would be the first to denounce the case of a pilot who has committed an illegality. »
In summary, a clean, unopened fracture, a high-quality surgical operation carried out as early as possible, intensive rehabilitation, exceptional physical fitness, measured risk-taking and great motivation allowed Valentino Rossi to not only miss the Misano Grand Prix and be competitive from Aragon.
In his misfortune, the Italian pilot therefore had a certain amount of luck…
