At the end of Race 1 at Aragon, he said, "I feel the pressure of inheriting the bike that wins every Sunday." Although the World SBK Championship, which just ended in Jerez, didn't turn out to be an absolute monologue - and it did grant Bulega's Ducati a chance to show off - what Danilo Petrucci is going to be coming up against starting next season definitely seems to be a feat. If, among the ranks of the Barni team, the rider from Terni was able to find "justifications" for performances that weren't always top-position ones - since it is a small team and one that lacks the comforts of a factory - with BMW, starting with the championship debut in Australia next February, he'll be called upon to bring home results.
A winning team only wants to repeat itself. Consequently, for the now former Ducatista, his apprenticeship time may last as long as a blink. Then he'll have to start proving that he's up to the task, and on the trust the Germans have placed in him, by preferring to bet on his experience rather than new bold young riders.
Having a bike in his hands that has flown with Toprak Razgatlioglu does not, however, mean that he'll have it easy. Besides an obligation to do well, the Italian rider will have to get rid of an element that has, so far, influenced and penalized his sports journey: bad luck, mostly present in the form of injuries in racing, but even more often in training.
This had already happened in 2024, when he fell from a motocross bike, fracturing his jaw and collarbone. And it happened again on the eve of the Estoril round, with an accident in the gym, which caused him to break the fourth metacarpal of his right hand, preventing him from taking part in the two decisive events that could've consecrated him as third overall winner, allowing him to bid farewell to Borgo Panigale with a smile.
The former MotoGP rider has always been able to constantly see the heart of the storm, showing that he knows how to get back up. But, above all, he's not afraid of challenges, even the most extreme ones. Take, for example, his double participation in the Dakar, the first on a KTM in 2022, where he also won a stage. But, even there, he grappled with more or less serious falls, such as the one in the sixth special, which required five stitches on his elbow. He also raced this year, in an Iveco Powerstar truck. But that was an adventure he had to prematurely end because the truck rolled over, resulting in a health problem for one of the other two crew members.
After winning two GPs in the top class of the MotoGP, specifically at Mugello in 2019 and Le Mans in 2020, he stepped on the podium several times in the SBK, managing, however, to shine only in the Cremona weekend of 2024, where he was uncatchable for everyone. As mentioned, Petrux will have to try to reverse his adverse trend of fate and give it his all to complicate the life of his friend, Bulega, who's already been given as the winner of a World Championship with few or no other riders suitable for the title.
In light of his latest injury, however, his march towards a new life with the Munich-based brand has also come to a halt. In fact, his recent hand surgery will make it impossible for him to be present at the start of the first two-day test scheduled for Oct. 21st and 22nd in Andalusia. That's why he'll have to wait as late as November 26th and 27th to finally test his new BMW, acquired from a three-time world champion... which certainly isn't helpful.