#GermanGP MotoGP J.3 Danilo Petrucci “Every left turn seemed to be over the limit”

After his brilliant third place in the Italian Grand Prix, then second at Assen in the immediate wake of Valentino Rossi, twelfth place at the Sachsenring, half a second ahead of the KTMs at the checkered flag, had the effect of a cold shower to Danilo Petrucci and the Pramac team.

It was all the more unexpected and violent as Petrucci, already qualified in third position at the two previous GPs in Barcelona and Assen, started from the middle of the first row of the grid at the Sachsenring, alongside pole sitter Marc Marquez.

The free practice sessions went poorly, with only the twelfth time for Petrux, meaning he had to go through Q1. In the wet, he performed this exercise perfectly, achieving the best time. He then had excellent pace, which he put to good use during Q2 to settle in with the second fastest time in the middle of the first row.

His start was unfortunately not extraordinary, and he only completed the first lap in fifth position, behind Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Jonas Folger. Petrucci managed to overtake Lorenzo quite quickly, but then had to give in to Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso and Aleix Espargaro. Halfway through the race, he was overtaken by Maverick Vinales, Alvaro Bautista and Cal Crutchlow.

Johann Zarco followed suit, imitated at the end of the race by Jorge Lorenzo. Petrucci finally saved twelfth place 0.6 ahead of the first KTM driven by Pol Espargaro. Like 22 of the 24 drivers present – Marquez and Folger being the exceptions – Danilo had not made the right choice of tires, due to lack of sufficient dry testing on the new Sachsenring surface.

According to Danilo Petrucci, “ I'm sorry for how things went today. If I had to be honest, I already had strange feelings during the warm-up lap.

“During the race I struggled to ride because every left turn seemed to be over the limit. They passed me on the straight, which never happens to me.

“Unfortunately, the rear tire didn't allow me to express myself. I'm sorry for the team who did a great job, I'm disappointed. »

Wheeling at 300 km/h on the wet
Impennando at 300 on the water #notbad @MotoGP @pramacracing #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/NLQSxmngX6

— Danilo Petrucci (@Petrux9) July 2, 2017

German Grand Prix results:

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 40m 59.525s
2. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 41m 2.835s
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 41m 11.071s
4. Maverick Vinales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 13.778s
5. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 41m 14.505s
6. Alvaro Bautista ESP Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP16) 41m 16.059s
7. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 41m 19.261s
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 41m 19.713s
9. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 41m 20.663s
10. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 41m 23.735s
11. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 41m 25.184s
12. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 41m 31.065s
13. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 41m 31.704s
14. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 41m 35.978s
15. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 41m 37.296s
16. Mika Kallio FIN Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 41m 37.377s
17. Karel Abraham CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team (Desmosedici GP15) 41m 38.848s
18. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 41m 40.715s
19. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 41m 59.375s
20. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 42m 1.189s
21. Alex Rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 42m 1.220s