Second in both sessions so far, Danilo Petrucci opened the Estoril weekend: the second to last in the current championship, knowing that he'll have a tough time in the direct confrontation with the overall leader. Challenged also by the weather, the Barni team's rider from Terni rider wanted to, nevertheless, look at the continuation of the weekend with optimism.
"I still don't have a great feeling when it's wet, also because I only rode the SBK in Magny Cours, and I couldn't stay upright. We're trying to work, but I don't know if Toprak has a stopwatch that goes slower, what is certain is that he always takes those seven tenths/second off us, and he does it with quite disarming ease. We had a good base from the tests, but we changed it because there wasn't that much grip this morning, and we made some changes for tomorrow," he said, analyzing the situation.
The weather conditions played an important role: "It was very hot during the tests, and I was pretty good, today a little less so, but we're still there, and it's going pretty well. At the moment, it seems like Razgatlioglu is unrivaled while, from second to tenth, we're packed within half a second. Will the fight in the race be for second place? I think so, because the BMW rider reached a 1'37" at the second and third laps, which no one was able to do, and the gap is important, so it's going to be difficult to be in the game. In any case, I'm satisfied as we continue to confirm ourselves among the top three in the standings."
The Turkish stated that the V4 R is better than the M 1000 RR. "It was 2016, we were in Philip Island for testd and, one day Stoner - who was coaching for the Borgo Panigale team - told me that I always had to do what I could with what I had available and where I was. So, the best bike is my own. I've never ridden a BMW, so I wouldn't know what to tell you. It would be nice to try it out. I think it's every rider's dream to try all the bikes on the grid. The Germans have concessions and can do what they want, we don't. So that seems like a bold statement to me."
The 2025 calendar was released in the past few hours. "The GPs seem well distributed. The dates are the same as this year. Only a few places changed. In general, I like it, also because there are no very long breaks and there are only two weekends in a row in the finale, so I'm happy with it. Is it very European? Yes, actually there's only one. Personally, I would've liked to have gone to Turkey. Also because of Toprak, there would've been many spectators, of which, however, there's no shortage in Cremona and Most, or in England, anyway. I might have looked for non-sanctioned tracks to get closer to people and not in conventional places. It was a shame seeing the stands half empty in Montmelo with Bautista there. It's probably also a matter of budget. Going outside the continental borders costs money, so we have to make do," he finally confided.