You are here

MotoGP, Petrucci furious: Austin is not a safe track

"It seems like we're back in the days of Agostini and Hailwood, not even in the National Championships do we find situations like this"

MotoGP: Petrucci furious: Austin is not a safe track

Share


It was a bitter Friday in the Ducati camp, especially for team Pramac. Surprisingly, Danilo Petrucci remained out of the top ten and if it rains for F3, he will be forced to go through Q1. The Texan track is definitely putting the GP18 to a hard test and the Italian minces no words, pointing the finger at the track conditions.

They told us that they had solved the problems stemming from the dips, but the must have done that on another track – he commented – It is not safe to race on a track like this. Not even in the national Championships do they have a track like this. It’s true that we are in MotoGP, where the level is high and we need to race in any situation, but these are conditions that maybe Agostini and Hailwood would have found when they were racing.”

Danilo then sums up his Friday.

I did two pretty fast laps, pushing past the limit, but they weren’t enough to stay in the top ten – the Pramac rider points out – Unfortunately, I’m off by one tenth. Among other things, I wasn’t even holding out hope – he added – Here in Austin, the Ducati struggles a lot with the bumps and we are also far off in terms of speed. Initially, they told us that the dips had been improved, but instead there are a lot more.”

Danilo then goes into further detail.

“We are struggling to absorb the dips – he said The bike doesn’t turn well and for me it was really an unlucky day. Among other things, tomorrow they say it might rain, so this aspect doesn’t help us either.”

However, Petrucci is trying to keep his morale high.

We’ll try to do something on Saturday – he stated – Obviously it’s still not over, but I certainly didn’t think that I would have to struggle this much. I must say that I am not far from Dovi and Jorge, but they are in the top ten and I’m not.”

Jack Miller is a bit farther back, filing away his Friday in fourteenth place, just 83 thousandths behind Johann Zarco.

I cannot be entirely satisfied with the day – the Australian admitted – Unfortunately, I don’t have much speed, plus I am losing a lot of time in the direction changes. In the afternoon I took a good step forward – he added – In fact, I improved my flying lap, but if it rains tomorrow it will be a pity.”

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
__

Related articles