There was almost a new name on the podium list in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) battled with six-time World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at Donington Park. After the two-time MotoGP™ winner stunned with third in the Tissot Superpole session, Petrucci was able to fight for the rostrum in the Prosecco DOC UK Round but narrowly missed out on a first visit in WorldSBK.
The Italian rider posted a 1’26.205s to secure his first front row start in World Superbike and his strong pace showed throughout the 23-lap battle. Of 22 normal racing laps, not including the opening one, 20 were in the 1’27s bracket with two – on Lap 2 and Lap 23 – in the 1’28s. Although his outright pace did not allow him to lap in the 1’26s bracket, his consistency kept him in contention for a maiden WorldSBK podium.
Between Laps 14 and 20, Petrucci was faster than the Kawasaki rider on all but one lap as he closed in on a potential podium. However, as the race reached its conclusion, Rea was able to pull a small gap over the Italian to secure his 250th WorldSBK podium and deny Petrucci his first rostrum. He did go into parc ferme as the top Independent rider and he closed the gap on Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in the Independent Riders’ standings.
There was one minor blight on Petrucci’s Race 1 copybook, as a mistake on Lap 2 potentially cost him a podium finish. Under braking into Turn 9, the first part of the Foggy Esses, the Italian had a huge moment and he had to run across the chicane. His time on that lap was a 1’28.555s while Rea’s was a 1’27.384s and Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) a 1’27.637s. Speaking after the race, Petrucci discussed his WorldSBK-best result of fourth place and whether that moment cost him a first podium since switching from MotoAmerica.
Petrucci said: “It’s always a good place especially with STK600 in 2009. I remember it was so nice and now, with the new surface, it’s even nicer. I had a good result in Superpole. In the race, I made just one mistake at the start of the race. I had a big wobble on the entry of the chicane, but I was able to, at least, dream about the podium but in the last two laps I had nothing to give against Jonny. I didn’t want to repeat the mistake from Misano, so I gave up a bit and it’s okay. I’m really happy for the team. We needed that result. We’ll work a little bit more but we’re not far. Maybe without that moment, but it’s not easy to say. I had a good pace and we stayed there for the whole race. Unfortunately, this bike is so particular. You need to be so precise. In that corner, I was a little bit aggressive on the brakes and the bike started to move a lot. Honestly, I had to fight with Jonny and he’s a great Champion. I will try again tomorrow. The Superpole Race is always something that’s really difficult for me at the moment, but I will try to keep my position.”
Read all the details from Race 1 HERE and watch all the action from the Tissot Superpole Race from 13:00 Local Time (GMT+1) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!
Source: WorldSBK.com