WSBK: Danilo Petrucci - Serious Concerns About His Physical Condition

Saajan Jogia | Aug 11, 2024

Danilo Petrucci WSBK Press Image /

Despite concerns about his physical condition and tire wear, Danilo Petrucci secured his second WorldSBK podium in two rounds, finishing third in Race 1 at Portimao. Petrucci led much of the race after overtaking Alex Lowes, holding the top spot before being passed by Toprak Razgatlioglu. He ultimately crossed the line behind the ROKiT BMW Motorrad rider and his Ducati teammate Alvaro Bautista.

Petrucci confessed to being utterly drained after the race, blaming his fatigue on the lingering physical effects of his motocross crash in April. Combined with the intense heat, these issues significantly impaired his performance, making the race even more challenging. He told WorldSBK.com, as reported by Crash.net:

“I was scared a bit about my physical condition, especially the right arm.

“I’m always suffering a lot the heat and the hot temperature.

“I’m sweating a lot, and it’s something that really upsets me when I’m riding. [...] I’m okay for 95 percent of my body but this right arm still has no strength.”

Despite the exhaustion, the Italian rider was happy about leading the race for the first time since 2022. He added:

“I feel tired at the moment, really tired.

“But it was a really nice race, I think for the first time I led a World Superbike race — it’s something I was trying to do.

“It was since 2022 in MotoAmerica that I was not leading a race.”

Petrucci acknowledged that he was pushing at "90 percent" during the Portuguese race, knowing it would be tough to keep up with Razgatlioglu and Bautista. Despite grip issues with the front tire in the latter stages, he was satisfied with the podium finish. He revealed:

“I was pushing, but 90 percent because I knew it would be impossible to let Toprak [Razgatlioglu] go off. At the end he had something more, also Alvaro [Bautista] was a little bit faster going into the corners, but at the end it’s still a podium and it’s always a nice job.

“In the second part of the race I was struggling a bit with the front tire to close the corner.

“So I lost some corner speed and it was really tough to keep the pace.”

The Barni Spark Ducati rider battled hard in the final stages of the race, trading positions with Razgatlioglu multiple times. The decisive move came when the Turkish rider expertly positioned himself on the brakes into Turn 1, leaving Petrucci unable to respond. After losing the lead, Petrucci attempted to regain pace but struggled with both traction and braking. This allowed Bautista to overtake him as well, despite his efforts to apply pressure in the closing laps. He said:

“I like a lot turn one.

“And I was braking really hard, but then Toprak did a really good job when he overtook me — he put himself in front of me on braking, so I couldn’t really go in [enter the corner].

“But I was a little bit in trouble with the traction, too.

“I couldn’t brake hard, I couldn’t accelerate.

“I think in the last few laps I tried to put some pressure on Alvaro but he was a little bit faster.”