Petrucci: “With the Suzuki, I would still be in MotoGP”

September 30, 2022

Midway through the 2021 season KTM made it clear to Danilo Petrucci that he was not going to enforce the automatic renewal clause of his contract for the 2022 season at Tech3 , leaving the Italian without a seat for the current MotoGP season.

The Terni rider joked this Friday at the end of the first day of the Thai Grand Prix, in which he acts as a substitute for Joan Mir at the handlebars of the Suzuki GSX-RR, a motorcycle whose behavior has left Petrucci highly satisfied, no matter how who has been ranked last on the time sheet.

“If I had raced this bike last year, I might still be racing here. Because I don’t have any money, otherwise I would buy the Suzuki to race in MotoGP ,” Danilo joked, though with a hint of nostalgia for his premature departure from the World Cup grill.

“I’m happy and pissed off at the same time, because I made a mistake on my fastest lap and ran into two yellow flags,” he said to justify not improving his time late in the second session.

Petrucci spent most of his career riding the Ducati, with a final season on KTM.

“The bike is very different from the last two I rode. The Suzuki’s cornering is incredible,” he said.

On his return after not racing in MotoGP since November last year, the Italian was satisfied.

“This morning I was very happy that I didn’t finish last, and this afternoon, without the mistake, I could have finished within a second of first,” improving the final distance of 2.4 away.

“I’m very happy, because I thought it would go much slower. When I saw in the morning that it wasn’t raining, I wondered if I was going to be able to qualify for the race”, for which he has to lap less than 107% away from the fastest .

“In the straight I lose seven tenths with Alex Rins, but that’s because I still have to understand how to brake,” settled Petrux.

Danilo Petrucci, Team Suzuki MotoGP