I’ve had plenty of bad crashes, but Sunday’s was probably one of the worst. Fortunately I didn’t break anything, but the impact was really violent.

I was attacking Marc for fourth position and came into the corner a bit faster than the bike could handle. I lost the front at almost 200 km/h. From that point on I had no control over anything — just gravel, gravel, gravel, and finally the wall.

I stayed still for a few seconds trying to catch my breath, sitting among the marshals. They helped me up, and I managed to walk to the ambulance on my own legs — which is already something to be grateful for after a crash like that.

At the medical centre the initial checks went well — nothing neurological, arms and legs were responding. But I had strong pain in my neck, and rightly the medical staff didn’t want to take any risks: they transferred me to the hospital in Groningen for further checks. CT scan, X-rays, the full protocol. I spent the afternoon there, waiting for the results with the same anxiety I imagine whoever was watching from home felt too.

Thankfully, no fractures, no injuries. Discharged that evening.

I had a lot of motivation going into the Assen weekend, and in part it had shown — fastest time in Friday’s practice, front row in qualifying, a bike that was working well both on a single lap and over race distance. I had the right feeling. Then, as happens in racing, it takes very little for everything to be turned upside down.

I lose the lead in the championship, but honestly right now the standings are the last thing on my mind. What matters is that I’m okay, that I’ll be able to get back on the bike, and that Aprilia still closed the day with a podium lockout. A nice result for the whole team, even on a difficult Sunday for me.

Now it’s time to focus on recovery, and then back to work. A tough weekend closes out a really tough month. But we keep going — always.