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MotoGP, Petrucci blames himself for ‘not doing my job well’

"When someone with your same bike goes faster there is very little to say. I'm disappointed to be in this situation, I put myself in the dock, I want to get out of it"

MotoGP: Petrucci blames himself for ‘not doing my job well’

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Danilo Petrucci has never exactly had a splendid relationship with Misano. Only in 2017 did he manage to get on the steps of the podium of the track named after Marco Simoncelli, grabbing an excellent second place behind Marc Marquez. A difficult result to replicate tomorrow in the race, given that today Petrucci conquered a disappointing 15th position on the starting grid, on a track that is certainly not among the most favourable for great comebacks.

In his meeting with the media, Danilo did a lot of self-criticism, recognizing that there is a lot of work to do and that the potential of this Ducati GP20 is more in line with what Miller and Bagnaia showed today, both men in the second row of the starting grid. The new Michelin is a huge problem for his riding style and Petrucci still hasn't found a way to make the most of it on his bike.

"When you have riders with the same bike who go faster - said Petrucci - you can't say that it's the bike that has problems. We are certainly not making the most of it, so it's hard to say who's to blame."

Yesterday Tardozzi did not go lightly with you and Dovizioso. He also pointed out how fast Pirro had been in testing.

"Davide is always impetuous in his statements, he is very sincere. Michele was strong in the tests, but we went much faster today. We also have other bikes ahead, Jack and Pecco did two good laps. Two tenths don't seem like anything, but today in MotoGP they make a huge difference. I put myself in the dock, I'm not doing my job well. I never said that the bike doesn't work, I said I have to figure out how to use it best. "

Does it weigh so much to be behind the two Pramac riders and also Zarco?

"When you start on a session, you always give your best regardless of who you have in front of you. Clearly, the fact of having changed the Michelin in 2020 has probably given us many difficulties. I have not yet found the good feelings I had at the beginning of 2019; I am getting closer to those in front but I always feel like I am one session too late. I’m missing those two tenths that make all the difference. It is not pleasant to be in this situation, I am disappointed to work so hard and then only do the results we are doing. I work a lot, both on the track and at home when I train, but I always arrive slightly later, as if I need an extra session and I find it hard to understand why ".

Today was worse than yesterday, when in the end you were at least in the top 10...

"Yesterday all in all I was happy, even if the sensations weren't exactly the best. Today many riders improved while I didn't do that little bit more. It's hard to understand what's inside a rider's head, it's the subconscious that drives you on, but it is clear that I am disappointed to be in this condition, as I am also disappointed for Ducati which is not achieving the results it wants and that I would like too. "

From a technical point of view, what is the main limitation?

"This morning I had a lot of problems using the soft front tyre. I felt good under braking, but I couldn't get the bike to turn well. FP3 was a half disaster because I missed Q2 by two tenths. But today two tenths in MotoGP is a lot. Then I made too many mistakes in Q1, I couldn't push through the corners and I'm very disappointed for how it went. My pace is not bad at all, so the grid position doesn't do me justice. It wasn’t a good day and I had a hard time repeating yesterday's good performances all day. "

Do you plan on choosing the medium tyre for the race?

"This morning with the medium the bike cornered well, but it didn't stop. I should find a way to use the two types of tyres together, one to brake and one to accelerate (laughs, Ed.). It always seems that this year the blanket is short, because as soon as I solve a problem another one pops up somewhere else. If you look at the gap from the others it is not very high. As I said, this year two tenths is too much in MotoGP. I felt like I was pulling too hard on the front brake , I didn't have good sensations. Here it's not even easy to overtake, I'll have to start very well but I know it's not just a question of ability, but more of luck. You have to be in the right place at the right time at the start of the race, otherwise you lose a lot of time " .

You say you need an extra session, and here you will stay for tests and for the second race. Will the situation change much next week in your opinion?

"I don't know how much the scenario will change next week. We are still looking for a set-up that works as a base, and the test will certainly be useful, because we don't have new things to try but we just have to work on the set-up. I would like to go back to riding as I did yesterday, which I did not manage today. Every time we touch the bike, there is a huge change in its behaviour and this is the hardest thing for me to digest."

Yesterday in the safety commission you talked about the new radio technology for teams. What do you think about it?

"It's hard to figure out how to make this radio communications thing work. We have to try it first to see how it really goes. Yesterday we talked about it in the Safety Commission with Stefan Bradl, who has already tried it. They are pre-recorded messages, it's not like F1, it doesn’t seem difficult to understand the messages. Stefan said that in the helmet you hear the voice very well, but the fact is that he himself said that out of three messages, he did not understand one. Honestly, we already have communications on the dashboard and they work well according to me. The point is that on the instrumentation we don't read these messages immediately. Maybe we have to try and see how they work. It's an improvement but in my opinion at the moment we don't really need these kinds of messages which are very Formula 1 style. There the riders are seated, they are stable. Maybe it is easier for them to talk to the pits. On the bike it is not the same thing, but at the moment we will only be asked to listen to the messages and not answer ".

 

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