Usually the thank-yous come at the end. This time I want to say them first.<\/p>\n
These have been difficult days, very difficult. After Germany I had to have two operations \u2014 the collarbone, which was a complicated fracture and the recovery in the first few days was hard, and then the knee: what was supposed to be a simple thing ended up being more complex, the wound was reopened and sorted all the way down to the bone. It wasn\u2019t easy, physically or mentally.<\/p>\n
Being here at Silverstone was possible thanks to so many people. Prof. Porcellini and his whole team, Dr. Landi in Rimini for the knee. Carlo, who has never trained me this hard or this intensely. Vale, the whole Academy and Aprilia, who believed in it. And my family, always. Thank you all, genuinely \u2014 without you I wouldn\u2019t have been on the grid.<\/p>\n
Friday I couldn\u2019t wait to get on the bike. And maybe it showed \u2014 fastest in pre-qualifying, new lap record. But I knew a flying lap was one thing, and that the race would be a completely different story. My body wasn\u2019t at 100% yet, and sure enough on Saturday morning in Q2 I struggled a lot and couldn\u2019t ride the way I wanted.<\/p>\n
The Sprint gave me the answers I was looking for. Good start, good rhythm, a huge amount of fatigue after the first few laps but in the end a third place that paid me back and moved me too.<\/p>\n
Sunday morning I arrive at the warm-up struggling. The main race is an unknown \u2014 I know the pace won\u2019t be what it was in the Sprint, but 20 laps at Silverstone never seem to end.<\/p>\n
Good start, the first laps I was going strong, I could feel the bike, I felt good. Then around mid-race I gave way to Jorge, and started defending third from Alex Marquez. The last laps were a real fight \u2014 I had no strength left, the pain was making itself felt, I had nothing more. But I couldn\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t give up for all the work the team has done. For the grind I put myself through this summer. For all the people who sacrificed their holidays to get me back on track.<\/p>\n
Chequered flag. Third.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m happy, I\u2019m tired. I can\u2019t take any more. But it was beautiful \u2014 it was worth it.<\/p>\n
I wanted it too much, and when you want something too much you don\u2019t let go. And until the end, we won\u2019t let go. Ever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Usually the thank-yous come at the end. This time I want to say them first. These have been difficult days, very difficult. After Germany I had to have two operations \u2014 the collarbone, which was a complicated fracture and the recovery in the first few days was hard, and then the knee: what was supposed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-cup-2026"],"yoast_head":"\n