Valentino Rossi's MotoGP rivals have hailed an 'incredible' ꦐinjury comeback by the Italian.

After returning on Friday, just 22 days after breaking his tibia and fibula in a training accident, Rossi stunned with third in Saturday's qualifying - his best eve🐻r grid start at the Spanish circuit - despite doctors predicting he would be out for 30-40 days.

More heroics followed in the ra꧙ce, where the Movistar Yamaha rider and his recently pinned leg held second place until the middle stages, in the wheeltracks of leader Jorge Lorenzo. 

Rossi went on to finish fi𒅌fth, 5.8s from victory but just half-a-second behind team-mate and pole sitt☂er Maverick Vinales.

"It was already incredible to b☂e here after this kind of fracture. I think nobody had done it," said race winner Marc Marquez, who needed several attempts to pass Ross꧃i in the race.

"Also incredible that he finished only five-tenths behind Vinales, with the same bike, and with this inj🎃ury. His talent ma𝓡kes the difference I think."

Team-mate and runner-up Dani Pedrosa, who felt Rossi could have given hi🙈m a little more room when he slipstreamed past the Italian on lap 16 of 23, added:

"For sure, like Marc said, already incredible to be recovered that fast from that kindಌ ofꦰ injury.

"Obviously every injury, as I know, is different. Even thoꦬugh it's the 'same' one, sometimes you heal much slower and you don’t know why. And sometimes you heal way faster. But for sure his determination to be here was very important.

"Yesterday in qualifying he was super fast and today at the beginning of the race he was in the front group, fighting for the lead. So real🏅ly🔯 surprising."

Third place Lorenzo, no st𓆉ranger to early injury comebac🔜ks, stated:

"It's been impressive, all the weekend. The way he qualified yesterday, 𒁃but especially the way he recovered. It's not the same, a body of 38 years old and a body of 15 years old.

"I think he felt better day-by-day and, as Marc said, he finished just a fꦗew tenths from Vinales - at a track that is not one of his [Rossi's]&👍nbsp;favourites. Very impressive."

Vinales, who came close to suffering an unlikley defeat at the hands of his team-mate, stated: "He was as strong as ever, especially in the race. There's no🍨t a lot to mention but he d♎id a really good race.

"When I saw him aᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚt the front I thought, for sure, that he would win the race. If he's strong at the beginning I could imagine him being good at the end because no-one gets as strong as Valentino at the end of races💝.

"B🎀ut he started to drop his pace; he was♒ spinning a lot. We both had the same problem so for sure we have to improve that on the bike."

Title contender Dovizioso, who finished two places behind Rossi, 𒅌said♎:

"I'm impressed about the start he did, he was so aggressive and really fast on the haꦍrd tyre. For sure that bike worked very well, but looks like they have a problem about the drop of the tyre and at the end also Valentino was struggling a lot, similar to me.

"But he did a great race in his condition. I'm not impressed about the speed he had, bec🎀ause if you don't have a lot of pain the speed doesn't change. But to be able to risk - in the fighting and with the grip we had today, where it was so easy to make a mistake - I'm really impressed about that."

Des🤡pite his efforts, Rossi has lost fourth in the world championship to Pedrosa by two points, but now has three more weeks to recover before the next event in Japan.