Danilo Petrucci does not know the start of the season that he should experience as an official Ducati rider with a contract of only one year in his pocket. Despite the complicity displayed behind the scenes with its leader Dovizioso, he remains at a respectable distance on the clock. Worse, Jack Miller regularly inserts himself between the two red motorcycles with his satellite GP19. The Australian is precisely aiming for his position for 2020… Petrux will start only tenth in the Argentine Grand Prix. And yet, he assures that his Saturday was not bad.
Danilo Petrucci complained after Friday in Argentina about his worst day with Ducati. On Saturday, he was smiling again. “ I was happy. If you don't look at qualifying, it was a good day. The problem is that qualification is the most important thing “, he regretted.
During Q2, “Petrux” only managed the tenth fastest lap, after finishing fifth in FP3. In FP4, he was good sixth. “ Saturday morning I was quite fast, I was happy and I still am because I know the bike has improved. As it turned out, I had missed a session on Friday morning “, says the newcomer to the Ducati factory team, who started the weekend with a crash in FP1.
« I am satisfied with this Saturday, despite the starting position" , said Petrucci. " In FP4 we found something interesting. During my first test in qualifying, I didn't push to the maximum, as always during the first test. Then I found a good pace for my second attempt, but when accelerating I slid off the back twice. I don't know if I pushed too hard, but we saw in the data that the tire was not necessarily similar to the first. Nevertheless, we start tenth ».
He develops a passage at turn 11: “lThe rear wheel has locked. I lost three tenths. I think the second or maybe the third line was possible “, said the Italian, who lowers expectations for the race. “ Of course, starting tenth on the grid is not good, but I think it is possible to fight for at least sixth place. We are not that far away. But I don't think I'm fast enough for the podium. I want it of course, but I have a lot of drivers in front of me. We have to wait for the first roundss ".
What's stopping Petrux from moving forward? “ Grip on the rear wheel. You have to be very careful with gas and that’s one of my weaknesses,” he admitted. “I don't get much information from the front tire either, especially if we put the bike into the corner. But I think we improved the bike compared to Friday. We need to understand which tire we will use for the race. I don't know if the soft lasts the whole distance of the race, but at the beginning I certainly have to try to take positions to try to stay with the best. But I don't know if I have the rhythm ».
The rain can redistribute the situation and Petrucci is never clumsy in these conditions: “ You have to be lucky to be able to draw the right card. I'm fine in the rain, I'm sure. But when it starts to dry out, it's difficult for slightly heavier riders. I remember last year when we had these conditions in qualifying and I started from 18th place on the grid. This is one of the reasons why I am happy because last year the situation was much worse », he smiles.
Petrucci also commented on his colleagues and competitors at Ducati: “Jack Miller has very, very good rhythm. I think he has a very good feeling for the track and uses the bike very well here. Dovi is still fast, he can fight for victory. It depends a lot on the conditions encountered on race day: with less traction, we have more difficulty than Honda. Márquez was incredibly fast in these conditions last year. It's difficult, the Honda riders are very fast, even Nakagami and Crutchlow. And the four Yamahas ».
« I analyze Jack and Dovi's data, the differences are minimal. I hope tomorrow we can make up for lost time, seeing them in action will help. Hopefully we can use the engine power against Yamaha, but we need to find something to counter Honda », added the Ducati rider.
Argentina, MotoGP, J2: times
QUALIFYING 2:
| Pos | number | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POLE | 93 | Marc MÁRQUEZ | Honda | 1'38.304 | ||
| 2 | 12 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'38.458 | 0.154 | 0.154 |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'38.468 | 0.164 | 0.010 |
| 4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'38.545 | 0.241 | 0.077 |
| 5 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1'38.548 | 0.244 | 0.003 |
| 6 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | 1'38.886 | 0.582 | 0.338 |
| 7 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | 1'38.897 | 0.593 | 0.011 |
| 8 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'38.955 | 0.651 | 0.058 |
| 9 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1'39.038 | 0.734 | 0.083 |
| 10 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'39.093 | 0.789 | 0.055 |
| 11 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARÓ | KTM | 1'39.489 | 1.185 | 0.396 |
| 12 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda | 1'39.520 | 1.216 | 0.031 |
QUALIFYING 1:
| Pos | number | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q2 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1'39.064 | ||
| Q2 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARÓ | KTM | 1'39.217 | 0.153 | 0.153 |
| 13 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARÓ | Aprilia | 1'39.288 | 0.224 | 0.071 |
| 14 | 88 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | 1'39.298 | 0.234 | 0.010 |
| 15 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'39.331 | 0.267 | 0.033 |
| 16 | 42 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | 1'39.384 | 0.320 | 0.053 |
| 17 | 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 1'39.387 | 0.323 | 0.003 |
| 88 | 5 | johann zarco | KTM | 1'39.571 | 0.507 | 0.184 |
| 19 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 1'39.605 | 0.541 | 0.034 |
| 20 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | 1'39.978 | 0.914 | 0.373 |
| 21 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM | 1'40.053 | 0.989 | 0.075 |
| 22 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia | 1'40.118 | 1.054 | 0.065 |
