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Danilo Petrucci's first podium finish since the serious accident suffered last April on a motocross bike came on the track at Most. In fact, the Barni Spark Racing team rider finished in second position in the first race on the Czech Republic round track, holding off Andrea Iannone after a good fight with the Abruzzo rider and Nicolò Bulega.
"It was certainly one of my best races in SBK. I still miss the victory, but the truth is that right now it is impossible to win with Toprak. Anyway, it was one of my best races in this championship and I feel good, despite the pain," Petrux commented at the end of the race.
A result that perfectly photographs the course of the career of Danilo, who has always managed to react in the face of accidents and difficulties.
"It's always like that: when everything is going well I don't do well and everyone gives me up for dead, and this time I was almost dead for real, I'm under pressure and I manage to do some very good races. Even though I'm without strength. I don't know why and I don't like it at all, however I punch better when I'm under pressure," admitted the 33-year-old, then reviewing his race.
"I have always suffered so much in very hot races, partly because sweating is one of my biggest problems. In the early stages I had a little difficulty with Nicolò and Andrea, because they were a little bit faster than me in acceleration. But then I saw that Nicolò was a little bit in trouble and that they had slowed down a little bit, and at that point I decided to pass them and try to get a margin," Danilo recounted, before talking about the duel with Iannone: "With five or six laps to go, I was passed by Andrea, who then went wide, and so I decided to give another push. I think he was a little bit faster than me at the end of the race, however, I had a good entry into the corners. I'm very happy, because I almost died in the motocross accident three months ago and there was a moment when I didn't know if I would come back to racing. I recovered very well, but I'm struggling a lot since I got back on my bike, because I have no strength in my right arm and that causes me to spend a lot of energy with my back and legs. Anyway, I am very happy, because the one with Andrea was a good fight. We are friends and he is a special rider, especially on the last lap, but I managed to close all the doors for him."
It was definitely not an easy race for Petrucci, who was once again put to the test by the aftermath of the accident.
"I don't have pain in my shoulder but in my back, because, as I said, I have no strength in my right arm. I changed my riding style two or three times in the race because I'm often lagging, especially in the direction changes and after a few laps I can't push like I want anymore and I have to enter the corners earlier with my body," he said, " It's hard and I don't know how I'm going to do two races tomorrow.
Petrux went on to explain what went wrong in the final laps, "I tried to take the last chicane as fast as I could, but I lost the front. At that point I decided to try to open a gap without pushing as hard. But then I missed a gear in the last acceleration, and I thought I had thrown away my strategy, but I was braking very hard and in the end a second place is worth gold for us, also because there is no chance against Toprak right now."
In fact, the Terni rider is fully aware that second place behind Toprak, and the palm of best Ducati rider and best Independent, were the maximum achievable result today.
"Let's say it's like I won the SBK race, since right now, with Toprak, it's like SBK +1, because he's a Top rider, he has a good bike, he has more confidence than anyone else and he's really carving out a groove. He's always been very good on the brakes, but this year he has a better bike than last year, he's much faster on the straights and he has very good acceleration. He doesn' t have any weakness right now , " he noted, " I'm good on the brakes too, but I don't have good acceleration. I don't know if it depends on my weight, however, the bike slides too much when I open the throttle."
Analyzing instead the performance of the two official Ducati riders, the Barni team rider added, "Nicolò is a rookie and on this track it is difficult to understand what to do with this asphalt and this type of compound. I think Alvaro got off to a bad start and then recovered his pace, but he is not the same Alvaro as last year. They have a little bit more than us, but the gap is not wide."
