Danilo Petrucci’s (Barni Spark Racing Team) weekend in Portimao was a solid performance from the Ducati Independent rider overall. #9 earned a pair of P4 finishes and avoided disaster to net a P6 to end the weekend on Sunday afternoon. Petrucci however wanted more from his trip to the rollercoaster round, lamenting having to go home without getting to taste the podium’s Prosecco after his Superpole Race P3 in Australia last round.

“When you are in P17 going into the first corner you know your life will be really tough.”: ‘Petrux’ on his Race 2 fracaso

In the afternoon, Petrucci looked to again be in a good position to fight for a Portimao podium, starting at the front of the second row in P4. Disaster struck at lights out when he had an issue with his bikes gear lever, botching his launch and leaving the #9 in P19 as he exited sector 1. Whatever the cause, ‘Petrux’ was able to string together overtake after overtake to right the ship with a P6 finish.

“We had a problem that we still don’t understand precisely, but when I pressed the lever to go to first gear it did not gear completely, which prevented the launch control from activating.” said Petrucci “Then when I released the clutch, it went into second immediately because I pressed it again, so let’s say half and half mistakes and technical problems. When you are in P17 going into the first corner you know your life will be really tough. I sincerely don’t know if the red flag helped us or if it hurt us. I was very close to van der Mark and Locatelli, then in the second race I was really busy with the other riders, fighting well with them but I was with a worn tire and the feeling was not very good. Sincerely, I’m a bit disappointed about this morning when I lost third place to Alvaro, then this afternoon with this mistake. To look at the positive, are third in the Championship, but no trophy for me this time, last year I went home with two, this time just the third place in the third row. I wish I could bring home a podium this weekend, but we're third in the Championship and now we're thinking about Assen.”

“I saw on my pit board +0.6s and I thought ok, still far, I can hold on, but 1 lap later he was in front of me.” Laughed Petrucci

Prior to Race 2, Sunday’s first race event, the Tissot Superpole Race looked to be a good opportunity for the Italian veteran to take home points, starting from P3, however an early move from Toprak, then a late overtake from Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) saw Petrucci miss out on the podium.

“I was really angry because I was able to do my strategy perfectly, I entered the corner at Toprak and I was second and I thought it was perfect because  I knew him and Nicolo could have been faster than me and they’d help me pull away, and it was like that, but in the last 3-4 laps I lost maybe less than half a second ahead of Alvaro and he caught me. It was crazy because I saw on my pit board +0.6s and I thought ok, still far, I can hold on, but 1 lap later he was in front of me. All the race I was dreaming about stepping on the podium again, but at the end they were faster. I would have liked to fight in Race 2, but at least I did a lot of overtakes, because yesterday I finished fourth with none and none this morning, but I think I did almost 20 between the two parts of the race. I was so angry, but I’m happy because I was able to fight my way through the other riders, but I would have liked to finish top 5.”

Catch Petrucci’s next time on track in the Pirelli Dutch Round April 11-13, tune in with the WorldSBK VideoPass!