Italian Superstock Champion in 2011, Danilo finished second at international level the following year. After being a tester for Ducati, he moved to IodaRacing Project. In his second year in 2013, the Italian scored points 11 times, and after recovering from a wrist injury, Petrucci then moved to Octo Pramac Yakhnich where he took his first podium at Silverstone in 2015 .
2017 was clearly his best season with two second places at Assen and Misano, and two thirds at Mugello and Motegi. “ In fact, these were not goals to be achieved at all costs, explained Petrux. The important thing was to stay in the first 5 or 6 positions during all the races but that was not always possible. »
“I had some good races but there were others, I would say 2 or 3, in which I struggled and I didn't understand what happened... However, during the Valencia GP and the tests, I understood the problem. »
“I noticed that compared to the other Ducati riders, I was mostly using the rear tire. I'm aggressive when first opening the throttle, when there's a lot of grip. It's a help, but when there's little traction I end up putting myself in crisis alone. »
“I saw the first improvements in Jerez: my strong point has always been that I am one of the riders who releases the brakes later but also one of those who accelerates earlier, with the bike still leaning. Michelin tires are tricky to manage and easy to overheat. »
“Michelin's goal is maximum performance, they bring different compounds for each circuit, which means the behavior of the bike changes a lot from one track to another. It's about adapting the bike to the tires and the circuit. These are “racing” tires because you really feel the connection between the gases and the rubber. »
“They heat up a lot and in fact my rear tire temperature is always higher than the other riders. When this happens, we lose traction and therefore time. From the outside I could say that this is what puts Yamaha in crisis, even if that is just my personal point of view.
“You have to do like Dovizioso, not overheat them too much, not stress them, but it's not easy to go slowly and at the same time stay in front of everyone (laughs). Even Lorenzo asked Ducati for a smoother engine at first touch of the gas, but most of the problems come from my riding style. »
In Jerez, did you drive the prototype of the 2018 Desmosedici?
“Yes, but only for an hour. The problem was that in this test I had my… best crash of the season, on the eighth lap, to say goodbye to the 2017 bike (Laughs). So I haven't been able to try the new Desmosedici much. I noticed some differences, but the engineers didn't tell me what they changed so as not to condition me. But it will not be the definitive Desmosedici. »
“My goal is to go to the official Ducati team. In my opinion, Lorenzo intends to win with the Ducati and Andrea has already shown that he knows how to do it. So, I should be able to do better than either of them. I have a contract with Ducati for next year and an option in their favor to join the official team in 2019. In a way everything is in my hands, they were very generous to include this option in the contract, now it's up to me. »
Photo © Pramac Racing
source:
gpone.com
