SBK | Petrucci in history: wins Race 1 in Cremona and makes… “hat trick”

Cremona, the round of firsts: the Lombard track made its debut in the Superbike World Championship this weekend and in Race 1 Danilo Petrucci climbed onto the top step of the podium for the first time in the production-derived series. A day that the Barni rider will hardly forget, the first victory came after an extremely hard-fought race in the early stages and then transformed into an absolute domination that allowed him to cross the finish line with a two and a half second advantage over the first of his pursuers.

With his success in Superbike, Petrucci becomes the first rider in history to have won at least one race in MotoGP, in the production-derived series and in the Dakar. We could also add his victories in Superstock and MotoAmerica: a versatile rider, who began his journey in Superbike amidst a thousand difficulties to get to the victory in Race 1 today in Cremona.

Petrucci also outwitted the most favored, who still climbed onto the podium but had to bow to the overwhelming power of the Terni rider, unbeatable today. Behind the enlightened Petrux Nicolò Bulega took the lead, having a great opportunity in his hands this weekend: the heavy absence of Toprak Razgatlioglu due to injury has opened the way for the rookie of the Aruba team, who today was able to collect a second position that allows him to get closer in the championship.

Now Bulega arrives on Sunday in Cremona with a gap of 35 points from the leader Razgatlioglu. Alvaro Bautista also recovered several points, author of a very solid Race 1: the reigning world champion had not gone beyond 13th position in qualifying, but he recovered (also thanks to several falls) to the final third place.

Thus, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team rider managed to close the gap on Toprak and his teammate Bulega, climbing onto the third step of the podium on a complicated Saturday. Race 1 was the heat of surprises, because Honda came close to the podium: Iker Lecuona tried to catch up with the riders in front, but then settled for fourth place, which is still a significant result for the Japanese manufacturer. His teammate Xavi Vierge also did very well, finishing sixth.

Axel Bassani slipped in between the two Honda riders, finishing fifth. This is the best result of the season for the Venetian, who was also the only Kawasaki rider to complete the race: Alex Lowes slipped when he was fourth in the early stages of the race. It was also a first race to forget for his brother Sam, who slipped in the early laps. Things didn’t go any better for Andrea Iannone, who ended up on the ground when he was in second position behind Petrucci, who was already firmly in the lead of the race.

Without Razatlioglu, the first of the BMWs was Michael van der Mark, seventh ahead of Garrett Gerloff, eighth with the M 1000 RR of the Bonovo team. Ninth position for Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who managed to get into the top 10 with the Ducati of the Motocorsa team. It was a complicated Saturday for Yamaha, which placed only one bike in the top 10: the best of the Iwata representatives was Remy Gardner, tenth.

The other Italians were in trouble: Andrea Locatelli, after having fought for the top positions in the initial stages of the race, collapsed and then finished in 12th position. Alessandro Delbianco was slower, as a wild card with the Yamaha of the MotoXRacing team, and did not go beyond 15th place. Nicolò Canepa, called to replace the injured Jonathan Rea, fell.