Valentino Rossi said he had been
saved by "the saint of motorcyclists" after a careening empty
bike flew within centimeters of his head during the Austrian
Grand Prix Sunday.
"I've never had such a fright in all my career" said the
nine-time world champ after Franco Morbidelli's Yamaha almost
grazed his helmet at almost 300 kph after being shunted by
Yohann Zarco's works Ducati.
"I was really scared," said Rossi, 41, who recovered from the
mighty fright to place fifth behind Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso.
"Getting back on track was hard. I ran the biggest risk of my
career, the bikers' saint did a great job".
The Italian legend, seven of whose titles have come in the
premier class, blamed Zarco for the incident.
"He's a repeat offender, he braked deliberately in front of
Morbidelli.
"It was a very dangerous manoeuvre...Zarco is not new to these
things...now they have to do something serious to him.
Morbidelli said Zarco was "a semi-murderer".
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