MotoGP riders are two-wheeled gladiators. They go out, take beatings weekend after weekend due to crashes, and hop back on their bike to race for victory just as quickly as they fell off it. One rider, who's particularly well-known for trying to rapidly get back on his bike after taking a spill, is Fabio Quartararo, and this weekend's Q1 at the Italian MotoGP only reinforced his reputation.
Quartararo's most recent display of doggedness came as a result of a lowside, during which he hit the ground particularly hard on his left-hand side before eating the gravel trap. It was instantly clear that he had a problem with his left shoulder—it was dislocated.
Instead of going to the medical center and seeking attention, he requested that one of the medical staff on hand immediately pop it back into place, which you can watch if you're not too squeamish below.
After getting his shoulder popped back into place, Quartararo begged to be let back onto his crashed bike to continue to compete in Q1, but the stewards wouldn't allow it. So he grabbed a fresh one from the pits and proceeded to set the fastest time in qualifying, before eventually finishing in fifth place. This all happened in the space of 14 minutes.
In many ways, what Quartararo did seems superhuman, but if you watch the clip below until the end, you'll see just how much it took from him to finish within the top 10 and move into Q2.
Longtime MotoGP fans might find this reminiscent of the time Jorge Lorenzo crashed and broke his left collarbone during practice for the 2013 Dutch TT at Assen. That night, he flew to Barcelona and underwent surgery where he had a titanium plate inserted, before flying back to the Netherlands. Just over 36 hours later, he raced and finished fifth.
The link here isn't just a severe left shoulder injury and relentless mentality, but also the fact that Lorenzo was also a Yamaha Factory racer.
