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The news of the week is undoubtedly the four-year ban on Andrea Iannone for doping. This is where Danilo Petrucci starts from in his media debrief: it’s a story that has greatly affected the rider from Terni, ready to face the penultimate round of the season in Valencia.
“The decision is not impartial - began Danilo - almost one year has passed since the incident happened and only today we have a sentence. I am very sorry for Andrea and at the same time for his dreams. I have always considered him a talented rider ".
Regarding this story, Danilo reveals some background information…
“Last year, when the incident happened in Malaysia, Andrea and I were having dinner side by side, but on two different tables. He was with his team, while I was with the guys from my team. The fact is that at that time I was eating vegetarian and I didn't have these problems with meat ”.
The fact is that this ruling has shaken the paddock of the World Championship...
“The fact is that a rider, however careful he may be with food, cannot fully understand what is inside a certain product. It’s uncontrollable and we are all shaken by this story. You have to be careful with every little thing you eat, also because it is difficult to prove that a product has been contaminated with steroids ".
Danilo, like other riders, said he feels close to The Maniac…
“I wrote to him, telling him that I felt very sorry and at the same time that I would like to see him smile again soon. For him, bikes represented life and ending up like this was bad. I'm very sad we will not see him back on track ”.
Attention then turned to the track, also because it is time to take stock of the end-of-season situation...
“For sure I made some mistakes this season, because otherwise I would be fighting for the title. The mistake was to work on an area of the Ducati that was not the right one, instead of adapting it with the set-up. The season started uphill after the Jerez tests, when I crashed due to the oil left on the track by Espargarò's bike, risking breaking my neck. This thing was not taken into consideration, also because there were no video images. Later I became nervous, because I didn't find the solution immediately, only at a late stage. Certainly we could have done better, even if it is too late to say it now.”
This week there was also a lot of talk about the failure of Marc Marquez to return to the track…
“When I spoke to him in Barcelona he was quite happy, because he was thinking of coming back for these last races. In the end, however, the situation has not changed and I think it is difficult to understand the situation at the moment. After the Catalonia GP, however, I never had the opportunity to see him again ".
Much closer to Danilo is the story of Dovizioso, whose future is still uncertain…
"Honestly, I don't know what to say about Dovi, even though I'm of the opinion that he wanted to find a competitive bike to race. I hope he won't stay out too long and to see him back on track ”.
