Ex-MotoGP rider Danilo Petrucci complains about poor communication at KTM and is happy that Ducati already has a plan for his future
Danilo Petrucci will test the Ducati superbike in February. At the WSBK test in Portimao, the former MotoGP rider will get the chance to gain experience on the Ducati Panigale V4R, with which he is expected to compete in MotoAmerica. We caught up exclusively with Petrucci to find out how his return to Ducati came about and what role the past few weeks have played.
“My plan was to ride the Dakar and then do the rest of the cross country rallies. But even before the Dakar there were some problems with KTM,”
“I suffered from the lack of communication with KTM, with the factory. I didn’t expect that. That’s why I told myself to go to the US to have fun. My goal is to be happy again when I ride a bike,” Petrucci explained.
Further cross country rallies with KTM “not an option” for Petrucci
“The final year in MotoGP was not fun for me. That’s why I decided to go into rallying. But then I realised that continuing to work with KTM in cross country rallies was not an option. I looked around and was happy to see that my former employers at Ducati showed a lot of interest in getting me back,” reports the two-time MotoGP race winner.
Petrucci has a long association with Ducati. From 2015 to 2020, the Italian rode a Ducati Desmosedici in MotoGP. By winning the 2019 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, the then Ducati factory rider fulfilled a lifelong dream and made the home fans cheer.
In MotoAmerica, Petrucci is expected to pick up where Loris Baz left off last year. The factory-backed Warhorse HSBK team is expected to end Yamaha’s winning streak in the US championship. For Ducati, the USA is the second most important market after Italy.
More rally events planned besides MotoAmerica
“It’s not official yet. I think we will work out the details in the coming days. There is no concrete plan for the future yet, but it has already leaked out that I will test in Portimao in February. I didn’t know when I was testing and found out from the news. They didn’t tell me because they want me to relax,” Petrucci described.
“I’m sure it will be a great experience,” he says, looking forward to the new challenge with the Ducati superbike. But MotoAmerica is not to be the only field of activity. “I would like to ride the Dakar again, though,” Petrucci clarifies. “Maybe at the end of the year I will ride the Morocco Rally and then prepare properly for the upcoming Dakar. “
