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After the festivities of Mugello, Danilo Petrucci is preparing to get back to work on track at Barcelona tomorrow. “I have to admit that the post-race was harder than the race - he jokes - I did so many interviews and continued to repeat the same things, then a dinner and at midnight I was in front of the TV, rewatching the race, I didn't even have time to celebrate as I should have, I hope to have another opportunity”.
He'll definitely have chance in July when, as promised, he'll take his team on holiday with the podium prize. In the meantime, he's enjoying the memory.
“It was nice to see that so many staff members were pleased for me, even those of rival teams - he recounts - I went into the press room and saw all the journalists were pleased, I prefer to see them like that then when they are writing bullshit” he laughs.
Aside from his obvious happiness, Petrucci is taking the Mugello podium in his stride.
“I think that it's part of my growth process - he says seriously - I finished two seconds behind Dovizioso, as I did also at Austin and Jerez, just in different positions. On Sunday I was pleased, also with the context, but not surprised. I was looking at Vinales on the podium and wanted to be in his place. On Monday I got back to training with my brother, I didn't take a day off, because I know where I want to get to, fighting against the best every weekend”.
Danilo has clear ideas and no intention of stopping. But there is saying, and then there is doing... and between the two are the tyres.
“Right now, the tyres are more important than the bike - he states - To explain, at Mugello it looked like it was all going wrong for Honda and we seemed to be in crisis at Austin and Jerez, Yamaha struggled in Spain. Then in Italy, in practice, at a certain point there was 10 riders in 4 tenths, we're talking about MotoGP and a track as tough as Mugello! For the show it's great of course, because until Sunday no-one knows who might win”.
Watching the races from the sofa is very different from taking part in them though.
“As a rider, sometimes nothing works and the week after you find yourself fighting for the win. This makes it harder to understand your limits and that of the bike”.
The Michelin tyres change from track to track and this, in turn, changes everything.
“They're carrying out many tests - he continues - Different riders use different tyres on the same bike, I too sometimes use the soft and then at other times the hard. With Bridgestone it was different, there were tyres that worked well everywhere and you changed the compound to suit the temperatures. This year, tyre choice has become key”.
