Valentino Rossi rueing Aragon MotoGP crash that cost him a chance at beating the Hondas

VALENTINO Rossi is feeling better a day after his heavy tumble out of the Aragon MotoGP, but rues losing another chance to beat the Hondas.

VALENTINO Rossi’s body is feeling better a day after his heavy tumble out of the Aragon MotoGP, but the Italian legend is kicking himself over his early race crash.

Rossi was diagnosed with a concussion after the crash, and underwent another medical check on Monday morning at Aragon before joining Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo in shooting a television commercial for sponsor Movistar.

“I’m fine, everything is okay, and this is the most important thing,” Rossi said.

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“I did not injure myself too much except for a big bump to the head. Last night I had a little headache but today I’m fine, I’m 100 percent.”

Rossi crashed on the third lap of the race while challenging Dani Pedrosa for third place.

The cooler conditions of race day allowed the Yamahas to challenge for victory against the dominant Hondas of Pedrosa and title leader Marc Marquez.

Valentino Rossi was right in the thick of the lead battle at the Aragon MotoGP.

Lorenzo was right in the thick of the fight before the rain became more intense, swapping to a bike with wet tyres at the right time to secure his first win of 2014.

Rossi feels he could have been right up there with him — but for the crash.

“Before the race we made a change that would have helped me a lot; the bike was strong, I was going well, I had recovered the gap in the first few laps and I was there with the leading riders.

“I felt good and I am sure I could have made a good race, so it was a real shame to fall.

“In a way I’m almost glad because even though we had a difficult weekend on Sunday we were competitive and this was supposed to be a track that is not very good for us.”

Rossi was briefly knocked out in his crash, triggered when he made a mistake and ran off the track. The bike spat him off when he crossed some wet astroturf, the presence of which prompted questions in the wake of both Rossi and Andrea Iannone’s similar crashes.

“This is always very dangerous and especially in these cases because the track was still wet from the morning shower and there was nothing to be done,” Rossi explained.

“In my case, if I had gone off track one meter before, I would have just gone wide, instead I touched the grass and I fell.”

The concussion diagnosis means Rossi will still need to be given medical clearance before he can take part in the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi on October 10-12.

Originally published as Valentino Rossi rueing Aragon MotoGP crash that cost him a chance at beating the Hondas