Great sigh of relief for Danilo Petrucci, who tested negative for COVID-19 after the second swab and therefore will be able to take part in the Dakar.
The previous test carried out upon arrival in Saudi Arabia by the KTM driver had found the presence of the Coronavirus in his body, therefore it was immediately isolated pending further analysis.
In the bubble of participants in the most famous Rally Raid in the world, the protocol provides for a week of quarantine in these cases, but with the Omicron variant in circulation, the doctors of the ASO organization and the FIA have provided additional molecular swabs to verify the veracity of them .
KTM asked ASO to perform a new test on Petrucci, in isolation since Thursday, as well as a blood test of maximum precision to rule out the presence of the Coronavirus and the possibility of transmitting it.
Apparently, the first to which Petrucci had been subjected was a classic ‘false positive’, so – after more in-depth blood tests – in the night between Thursday and Friday the Terni was given the green light to be at the start of the 44th edition of event, the first in his career.
“Clearly I am very happy to be at the start of the Dakar, it was a long and intense journey made up of a couple of difficult months, also because in the last one I also broke my ankle”, Petrucci told Motorsport.com microphones. at the bivouac this morning.
“I’ll give it my all in this participation, especially to get to the end and have fun. It’s my first experience and I can’t wait to start it”.
Danilo Petrucci, KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: KTM Images
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