Danilo Petrucci’s Superbike adventure could not have started with a higher degree of difficulty. Ready, go, Race 1 starts in the rain and in conditions bordering on the prohibitive, with decidedly poor visibility that put all the riders in difficulty. However, in the pit of Phillip Island, the rider from Terni got away with a seventh place at the finish line, which he later became eighth due to a penalty generated by a contact with Xavi Vierge in the finale.
The inaugural round of the season started with great unknowns, especially for Petrux, who found himself facing a situation that was new to him and which he had to manage in order to be able to bring the bike to the finish line. Standard bearer Barni admits that he didn’t have an easy life, on the contrary: “It was an odyssey because I had never tried the bike in the wet, never seen the tires, even the blind setup…I only knew the track, but I had never done a race at Phillip Island in the wet. More than anything else it was very difficult for visibility, I’ve always been behind other riders, I did some blind sections where I really shit myself”.
Race 1 immediately put Danilo’s nerves to the test, as he arrived tired at the end of the day, but with objectives already set for the rest of the weekend and for the rest of the season: “I’m happy to have reached the end because it was really tiring, not physically but mentally. I didn’t know the tyres, you couldn’t see much, with the electronics, I had to run like a cat when it sees water, I had to play a lot with the engine brake”.
“I was still the best of the rookies, it’s clear that I wanted to finish a little further, but I must be happy because I had never tried the Pirelli rain tyres, we didn’t know which setup to use… seventh place is fine. This year I want to enjoy it and take what comes. Today I did my best not to make any mistakes, with the rear I had zero grip, I took a lot of risks but I couldn’t change engine braking or traction control much. But I thank the guys on the team who put up a setup they didn’t know about,” he says.
Danilo Petrucci’s first podium in MotoGP arrived in the wet and history has taught us how much the rider from Terni is a water specialist. With the rain, therefore, an excellent result was undoubtedly thought of, but Petrux curbed enthusiasm by explaining how difficult it is to fight for the top positions in such a closely contested championship: “There are specialists, but mostly for what I regards, in an instant I found myself catapulted into the same situation as Suzuki in Thailand, where at one point we looked at each other in the garage and said ‘what are we going to do?’. I thought much worse, because between the visibility and not knowing how long the rubber lasted, I had to calm down and was doing everything blind. I didn’t understand the speed I was going at and mentally it was tough, but I had to finish it and we finished it. We were in the top 10 and that’s fine, it’s clear that I would have liked to be ahead, but that’s fine for now.”
The rain messed up the plans for the weekend, but it looks like the two races will be dry for Sunday. Danilo is certainly more confident on a dry track and feels he has a big margin for improvement: “I wanted to race in the dry, but at least we also have some data on the wet and we understood that we can do much better. In the dry we are coming. The fact is that it takes a little longer than expected because I’m a special rider anyway, not because I have anything different, apart from a few more kilos: I’m 30 more than Bautista and 20 more than Rinaldi. So the team is also taking a bit of time, I made a big step on Friday with the riding position and giving directions is easier. For me, even in the dry we are among the top 10. Today I wanted to see how the race distance was because in my opinion I’m in good shape with the management of the rear. The potential of the bike and the team are high, but it’s clear that I have to get used to a completely different format, with a bike that we’re building slowly and I’m reaching a high level. Bautista drives fast, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a rider ride like that and set those times there”.
Finally, Petrucci gives his version of the facts on the episode in which he was the protagonist at the end of the race. In the duel for seventh position, he collided with Xavi Vierge and Race Direction inflicted a penalty corresponding to one place less in the standings. Climbed to eighth place, Petrux mea culpa and acknowledges the mistake: “He got into me on the last lap, I tried to cross and he closed. We touched twice but I was aggressive and didn’t give him space. I didn’t think it would come up the first time, luckily nobody crashed and I don’t contest the commissioners’ decision”.
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