World Superbike Donington
Petrucci says WSBK harder than he imagined after first podium
Ex-MotoGP racer Danilo Petrucci admits he underestimated the level in World Superbike after claiming his first podium in the series last weekend at Donington Park.
Sebastian Fränzschky
Edited: Jul 28, 2023, 7:12 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Petrucci switched to WSBK this season with satellite Ducati squad Barni Racing following his first foray into Superbike racing with a campaign in MotoAmerica with the Italian marque last year in which he just fell short of the title.
After a difficult opening part of the season, Petrucci experienced an upturn in form in last month’s fifth round of the season Misano, qualifying fourth but crashing out the first two races, claiming only a seventh-place finish in the finale.
By contrast, at Donington the 32-year-old scored a season-best result of fourth in Saturday’s opening race at Donington before going to finish third in the final race on Sunday behind works Ducati man Alvaro Bautista and the Yamaha of Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Looking back on his success, Petrucci said his pace around Donington came as a surprise but admitted he previously envisaged his first WSBK podium would come much sooner.
“This track was basically new for me but I like it a lot,” said Petrucci, who last raced at Donington in 2009 in Superstock 600. “It reminds me of the older tracks, like the ones I raced on in the US last year. I didn’t expect to be so strong though.
“I’m so happy because everything went wrong at Misano. We probably had the potential for a podium there, and I was strong again on Saturday, so I told myself, ‘I just have to try’.
“Everyone thinks that MotoGP is the best, but you have to ride here to understand that Toprak, Alvaro and Johnny [Rea] are the level of the top MotoGP riders.
“The other riders want to beat me because I’m a MotoGP race winner. They are all hungry. I’m not afraid to say I imagined it would be easier to get [a podium] after wins and many podiums in MotoGP, but it was quite difficult.”
Petrucci added that he won’t be satisfied until he achieves his ambition of standing on the top step of the podium in WSBK and emulating other ex-MotoGP racers who achieved the same feat like Carlos Checa, Max Biaggi and the late Nicky Hayden.
“I’m here to win one race,” he said. “Last year, when I was racing in the USA, I looked at the list of riders who had won a race in both MotoGP and WSBK. There were only big names on that list and I told myself I wanted to be one of them.
“The reality was pretty harsh. At the beginning of the season I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision to return to a world championship. You have to learn new things all the time.
“I love racing, but I want to be at the front. My mission now is to win a race. But it’s almost impossible because of Alvaro - maybe I’ll have to wait until he retires!”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Lowes to remain with Kawasaki in 2024 WSBK season
Next article Van der Mark adamant BMW seat not under threat from Razgatlioglu
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Sebastian Fränzschky
Should MotoGP follow WSBK and let sprint races decide the starting grid?
MotoGP
MotoGP Jan 8, 2025
Should MotoGP follow WSBK and let sprint races decide the starting grid?
Suzuki president shows interest in returning to MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP Dec 9, 2024
Suzuki president shows interest in returning to MotoGP
Rinaldi set for Motocorsa Ducati ride after losing Honda chance
World Superbike
World Superbike Oct 27, 2023
Rinaldi set for Motocorsa Ducati ride after losing Honda chance
More from
Danilo Petrucci
Petrucci extends World Superbike deal with Barni Ducati
World Superbike
World Superbike Sep 15, 2023
Petrucci extends World Superbike deal with Barni Ducati
Petrucci's Le Mans MotoGP return "a mission impossible"
MotoGP
MotoGP
French GP
May 11, 2023
Petrucci's Le Mans MotoGP return "a mission impossible"
Injured Bastianini replaced by Petrucci for French MotoGP round
MotoGP
MotoGP
Jerez May testing
May 5, 2023
Injured Bastianini replaced by Petrucci for French MotoGP round
Latest news
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
General
Misc General 1 h
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026 in epic finish
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
7 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
8 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe