Valentino Rossi gave a classic display of his fighting spirit at Phillip Island on Sunday, when the newly crowned six time
MotoGP world champion overcame the after-effects of a huge qualifying fall to charge from twelfth to second.
"That was a very exciting race for me, from start to finish!" smiled Rossi. "Unfortunately I made a small mistake yesterday and I paid a high price for it - both with my starting position and with my body!
"This morning my neck was okay but I had a lot of pain in my head, so I have to say thank you to Dr. Costa and the Clinica Mobile because they gave me a lot of massage and some medicine and I was in better shape for the race."
Starting from the back of the fourth row, Rossi rose to eighth by the end of the opening lap - narrowly missing a collision with
Alex de Angelis in the process - and was soon engaged in a thrilling battle for third with fellow Yamaha riders
James Toseland and
Jorge Lorenzo.
Rossi despatched the Spaniard within two laps and got by Toseland soon after but the Briton put up a spirited challenge, wresting third back and hanging on for five more laps until Rossi eventually got the better of him, on lap 13 of 27.
"The first time I passed James I thought I would be able to go but then he passed me back and I realised that his pace was not so bad, and we had a great battle!" recalled Rossi. "He was very strong and difficult to pass but once I did get by I was able to go."
With a podium place secure the eight-time champion could have been forgiven for coasting home, but instead Rossi put everything into bridging a six-second gap to
Nicky Hayden. Little-by-little Rossi made up ground on the Repsol Honda rider, snatching second on the very final lap and recording his 14th podium of the season.
