Valentino Rossi’s girlfriend ‘destroyed’ by horror MotoGP crash

MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi has revealed his girlfriend was badly shaken up after he was lucky to survive a catastrophic crash.

Valentino Rossi wasn't the only one scared.

Valentino Rossi says his girlfriend was “destroyed” after seeing him narrowly escape from a terrifying MotoGP crash at the Austrian Grand Prix on the weekend.

The nine-time world champion was shaken when Franco Morbidelli’s Yamaha, travelling at 300km/h, flew across the track just in front of him.

Morbidelli and the Ducati of Johann Zarco had collided just seconds before the riders slipped through turn four at Spielberg on lap eight of the race.

Zarco’s Ducati also came desperately close to hitting Rossi as well as his Yamaha factory teammate Maverick Vinales, who was just ahead of him.

Rossi and Morbidelli both slammed Zarco’s racing, saying he could have killed someone, and the Italian legend has since urged riders to show more caution.

Rossi also revealed how his girlfriend, Instagram model Francesca Sofia Novello, was affected by the shocking incident.

“It was so scary. It was terrifying,” Rossi said. “I feel bad. I was scared, very much. Because today was very dangerous.

“You try to not think about it, but it’s really difficult, and even now it’s not easy. I spoke to my girlfriend already, she is destroyed.

“But I haven’t spoken to my mother and (brother) Graziano. Now I will call them for sure. Especially Graziano.”

Rossi acknowledged aggression is key to success on the track but argued riders need to know their limits.

“We don’t have to exaggerate, because we need to remember that this sport is very dangerous,” Rossi said. “You need to have respect for your rivals, especially at a track where you’re always going at 300km/h.”

Rossi questioned the manoeuvring of Zarco who, he said, went wide in braking, slamming the door on Morbidelli, who had no chance to brake.

“We were very lucky, but we hope this type of incident is a lesson for riders to improve their behaviour in the future,” Rossi said, hinting that Zarco would be facing even more scrutiny had there been a casualty.

“I spoke with Franco, he is OK, he is trying not to think, but when he thinks, he too feels scared.

“What makes the difference on this occasion is that nobody got hurt, all riders are OK, so this changes the situation.

“If something bad had happened, it would have been completely different.”

Zarco, dubbed “almost a murderer” by Morbidelli, was quick to claim he was innocent, insisting his manoeuvre was “not done on purpose”.

RELATED: ‘Almost a murderer’ claim after 300km/h crash

Rossi recovered from the scare to finish fifth.

The MotoGP drama followed a sickening crash in Sunday’s earlier Moto2 race when Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin ploughed head-on into the bike of Italian Enea Bastianini, which was lying in the middle of the track after a fall.

Rossi’s Factory Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli said both incidents were “heart-in-the-mouth moments for all spectators, but especially for the riders”.

“We are so thankful that all riders involved are relatively OK,” he added.

Meregalli went on to praise both Rossi — who finished fifth — and Vinales for having the nerve to restart after such a horrifying near-miss.

“Valentino didn’t let any of it faze him, and he got down to business as usual during Race 2,” he said.

“Normally, fifth is a decent result, but under these circumstances it’s an incredible achievement that only top riders can manage.”

With AFP