Danilo Petrucci trains like a madman with a Dovizioso which gives him all the keys to success. He lost weight until he began to look thin, and Ducati even invented a deflector on the swing arm to prevent him from heating his rear tire too much... But nothing helps. If Petrux is better, he has not yet risen to a level of play worthy of a Ducati official. In Argentina, his tenth qualifying place cost him dearly and, at the finish, he had still abused his rear rubber too much...
As in Qatar, Danilo Petrucci missed the top 5. But this Argentine sixth place was less disappointing than the same position taken in Qatar. This time, Petrux went up to titillate the two men vying for the podium, his teammate and Valentino Rossi. But in the last part of the race, his two compatriots made him understand that it was only an illusion. He explains :
« As always, if you don't qualify well at the start, it's tough. I had a good pace and when I felt the podium, I decided to try it. I thought maybe I could bounce back from a rough weekend. But to reach the front men, I pushed a lot and when I reached them, I thought that they were also in a little difficulty. But in reality, it was me who was in difficulty after three rounds with them ».
He says more precisely: “ when I took them back they started pushing and with five laps to go and I couldn't stay with them. If they seem to be in difficulty, they always have a little more experience, some margin, but I don't have this margin, also because I often have to start from further away. I had pushed so hard to join them. But in the end, it wasn't my problem anymore because Rins joined me, then also Jack Miller ».
Un Miller who finished in front of him and who is eyeing his official handlebars. However, the atmosphere between the two men is good: “ there was a lot of contact in this race, especially with Morbidelli and Miller. But with Jack, we are really good friends. The more we touch, the happier we are! ».
« I'm happy with how it went, I wanted more but I feel like I'm riding better » adds Petrux. “ The problem is that we use the rear tires a lot. We lose a lot in the middle of the corner and we have to recover afterwards. When we can brake and accelerate really hard, everything is fine, but when we start to lose traction at the rear, it becomes difficult to stop the bike. At Termas, it was special. There are long corners when accelerating, there is asphalt with low grip which doesn't help. Here we could see drivers drifting everywhere, tires smoking, especially at turns 6 and 7”.
« I have to pay attention to the consumption of the rear tire. If you take Jack and Rins for example, they drift a lot but they weigh less than me. I'm heavier and if I let the tire slide more, I use it up much faster. From a certain point of view, I have an advantage, because being heavier, I can lift the bike faster when exiting a curve, but this is not always true » regrets the 28-year-old Italian.
Austin now looms on the horizon. In 2018, Petrucci only crossed the finish line in twelfth place with the Pramac-Ducati. In two weeks, from April 12 to 14, he will want to do better. “ I have to take advantage of the current momentum for Austin, but I really have to be better in qualifying,” Danilo said. “We want to constantly progress and gain points ". At General classification, Petrucci takes fifth place with 20 points.
