Rabat: My leg twisted like an S

Tito Rabat has opened up on his accident suffered during the final practice session at the British MotoGP when he was struck by Franco Morbidelli’s bike and suffered a triple leg fracture which ‘twisted like an S’.

In FP4, the Reale Avintia Ducati rider crashed on his own at Stowe corner after a sudden shower partially soaked the Silverstone circuit which sent him aquaplaning off into the gravel.

Rabat: My leg twisted like an S

Tito Rabat has opened up on his accident suffered during the final practice session at the British MotoGP when he was struck by Franco Morbidelli’s bike and suffered a triple leg fracture which ‘twisted like an S’.

In FP4, the Reale Avintia Ducati rider crashed on his own at Stowe corner after a sudden shower partially soaked the Silverstone circuit which sent him aquaplaning off into the gravel.

Rabat, who was moving out of the gravel trap, was unsighted when Morbidelli suffered an identical off in the wet a few seconds later which caused his Marc VDS Honda bike to hit the Spanish rider.

Rabat suffered fractures to his femur, tibia and fibula on his right leg while also losing a lot of blood following the collision. The Spanish rider was airlifted to University Hospital Coventry and underwent emergency surgery which was also overseen by doctors Ángel Charte, Xavier Mir and Ignacio Ginebreda from Dexeus University Hospital in Barcelona.

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Rabat, who flew back to Barcelona on Friday, has recounted the horrific accident and while he didn’t fear he could have lost his leg he was scared due to the loss of blood.

“I never thought about losing my leg, although I saw it twisted like an S when I was laying on the gravel,” Rabat said. “I lost a lot of blood and I got scared. I have learned a lesson and from now on every time I crash again I will look back.

“At that moment I saw that Rins was warning me to get out of there, and I saw Franco’s bike coming very fast towards me. I stood up and the bike hit my leg, but otherwise it would have been much worse.”

Rabat has thanked the MotoGP medical team at Silverstone and the Coventry hospital for its care but accepts there is currently no timeframe on his return from injury.

“At Silverstone we saw how important it is to have the Medical Team in MotoGP and I want to thank all of them for their great work,” he said. “I also want to thank to those who operated on me in England because they did a great job. I want to return as soon as possible, but I will do what the doctors say.

“The priority is to recover as soon as possible, but in the end, it depends in the evolution of the leg,” Rabat said. “The worst of the accident was the pain, which practically has not let me sleep.”

Dr Ginebreda, who was alongside Rabat during his press conference at the Barcelona hospital, says there are many risks associated with an accelerated recovery which is why no timeframe has been given on Rabat’s comeback.

“We have to give it time and we cannot fix a date,” Ginebreda said. “Tito will recover as soon as possible, but I dare not give a return date.

“These kind of fractures take time. It will be necessary to evaluate him and the risks that it entails. We have planned several actions to accelerate recovery. He can get on the bike before the fractures are fully consolidated, but we have to assess the risks.”

The customer Ducati squad is yet to confirm who will replace Rabat for the upcoming Misano round this weekend, with Michele Pirro unlikely given he already has a wildcard entry for this weekend with Ducati.

The British MotoGP round was cancelled on Sunday following track safety concerns when heavy rain saw the resurfaced track unable to sufficiently drain the standing water.

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