Danilo Petrucci, at the first rally-raid of his life, was one of the main protagonists of the Dakar 2022. The rider from Terni, who had accepted the idea of taking part in the two-week race in Saudi Arabia more as a personal challenge than as a real competitive goal, left all observers stunned. The KTM rider gave a show on the Saudi dunes, obtaining excellent results despite many problems, including injuries and technical problems. The highest point ‘Petrux’ reached it on January 6th, hitting an incredible one stage victory.
A result that made him go down in history. In fact, no one had ever won a MotoGP race and a stage of the Dakar in their career. “It is the greatest satisfaction that has made me unique. I made the first record of my life, I’m really happy, now I can retire in peace “, commented Petrucci during an interview with Sky Sport 24 about his desert adventure. “I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn’t imagine that much – added the former Ducati rider – it was one of the strongest experiences of my life, it is difficult to summarize it in a few words “.
“It had never happened to me that I had to get up for 2 weeks at 3 in the morning, get on my motorbike at 4 in the morning when it is still dark and return after 12 hours or so. All sorts of things have happened to me. I broke my ankle, then there was the covid, then the bike stopped – the Italian underlined again – but I also managed to win, I didn’t expect it “. Petrucci closed the Dakar al 90th place in the general ranking, however, held back by 12 hours of penalties for technical problems. Without those the Italian would have been able to settle around the 40th position overall.
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