The visit of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours turned out to be highly positive for Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) as he stood on the podium after all three races.
Third in Race 1 in the pouring rain on Saturday, Petrucci repeated that result in the Tissot Superpole Race before going one better with his excellent ride to second place on Sunday afternoon. Although Petrucci could not challenge the unstoppable Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for the win, he held off the threat of Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) who was on his rear chasing for second place.
Petrucci also took advantage of the first lap run-off for Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) with whom he had anticipated a Race 2 fight.
“I was already really confident about this race, as this morning I was able to catch all the riders after starting from ninth and I finished third,” said the Ducati rider after Race 2. “I expected to fight with Alex and Nicolo this afternoon but I don’t know what happened to Alex on the first lap. I was not able to follow Nicolo on the first two or three laps, then the gap remained the same. I tried to push all the way through, when I was catching maybe two or three tenths per lap to Nicolo, then the gap was fading.”
He continued, “At the end I was suffering a bit with my right arm then there was Garrett trying to catch me. It was not a difficult race, but it was difficult to manage all the race because I was alone. In the end it is three podiums, which has never happened in my career. I think looking at the points I was the one who scored most this weekend. I’m really passionate about motocross and if this was motocross I would have won the Grand Prix!”
Following the Superpole Race incident which had seen Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) crash as the pair battled at Turn 5 on lap 5, Petrucci later acknowledged, “The first thing I did after the celebration before heading to my garage was I went to Andrea’s garage and he was a little bit upset. In that race I was on the inside, he tried to hold on and he just closed the corner when I was there and I was on the inside.”
“I’m so sorry because Loka really is a great guy and I’m so sorry that he crashed. I was thinking about the crash all the way after that and I thought I would be penalised but in the end fortunately the race direction made a good choice.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com