Danilo Petrucci : Highside Rea Was Very Bad and Then Gardner Crashed His Bike

RiderTua.com – After finishing 8th in the first race and only 15th in Superpole, Danilo Petrucci turned things around in the second Superbike race at Phillip Island and took 3rd place with an incredible final acceleration.

“It’s crazy. In the Superpole race I was 15th and the bike was very difficult to ride, with exactly the same setup as Saturday. Maybe the wind was blowing too hard. I was very nervous going into the second race, but I was straight in the group “I was at the forefront. I was right behind Johnny Rea when he crashed. I hope he is okay because his highside was very bad! Then (Remy) Gardner crashed his bike,” said the rider from the Barni Ducati team.

Danilo Petrucci : Highside Rea was very bad and then Gardner crashed his bike

After the red flag, Danilo Petrucci pushed himself again and tried as hard as he could again after restarting in 11 laps. “I was at the front, able to fight and at first I thought, ‘if I finish as the best rider in the satellite team, that’s a good result’. But suddenly my traction got bigger, while riders like Rinaldi lost their way. In the final sprint race “I saw Andrea (Locatelli) who was next to me lose control of the rear wheel and crash, that meant I secured the podium,” said Danilo.

In the last three laps, the Italian rider managed to reduce his gap from the race leader from 2 to 1 second and could even have fought for victory with less time. “But I’m very happy with my 3rd place. According to my predictions, in this class we can finish in 15th place and easily finish 3rd. At least 15 riders deserve a podium, it’s crazy how close the gap is. More or less 0, “1h seconds can mean a lot,” said Petrux.

In Race 1 on Saturday, Petrucci lost all chances to occupy top position with a pit stop that lasted too long, reaching 5 seconds. “A bolt broke. Luckily one of the mechanics had the appropriate spare part in his pocket, so we were able to minimize the damage,” said the 33-year-old rider.

Petrucci also has mixed memories of the Phillip Island circuit from his days as a MotoGP rider. “In 2019 I started from the second row and was in 4th place when I collided with Fabio Quartararo. In 2018 I was even leading when I lost control while sliding. I was always unlucky, or I was stupid. I could never leave Phillip Island with a smile. But I’m happier now!” concluded the former Dakar Rally rider.

Overall, Danilo Petrucci is in 6th place after three races scoring 24 points, making him the second best satellite team rider behind Andrea Iannone (29 points).