After recording three consecutive podiums at Le Mans, Mugello and Barcelona, including a memorable victory at the Italian Grand Prix, Petrucci was then in fourth position in the general classification, just five points behind his teammate Andrea Dovizioso who was second. But recently his results have been less sparkling, with tenth place in Misano, twelfth in Aragon, then ninth in Thailand as well as in Motegi this Sunday.
In the Championship, Danilo fifth lost further ground on Alex Rins et Maverick Vinales, tied for third position, seven points behind these two opponents. But where things get complicated for Petrux is that El Diablo is coming back at him like a plane, lining up the podiums with increasingly impressive mastery. Petrucci now only has a six-point lead over Quartararo, and resisting him in the next and final three Grands Prix is not going to be easy.
Petrucci never really gave the impression that he was in the right rhythm during this Asian Grand Prix. Thirteenth in the first free practice session, 0.963 behind leader Maverick Viñales, he completed these free practices in eighth position, 0.855 behind the best time of fabio quartararo. It was partly positive, because it qualified directly for Q2.
In qualifying, Danilo got the eighth time, 0.664 from pole position. Marc Márquez and 0.017 behind teammate Andrea Dovizioso's seventh time. He had every hope, especially if we know that Dovi finished on the podium.
Petrucci completed the first lap of the race in eighth position, then was overtaken by Álex Rins. It was then Joan Mir who overtook him, then Valentino Rossi. Petrux passed Valentino again and recovered tenth place, then overtook Jack Miller at the end of the race in difficulty with his tires and finished ninth, 14.216 behind the winner Marc Marquez. If we noted that his teammate Andrea Dovizioso finished third at 1.325, the comparison was not very flattering for Danilo.
He will therefore need to make serious progress next week at Phillip Island to keep Fabio Quartararo at bay. But Australia for the moment has never been very favorable to him, with his best result in 7 GPs contested there being ninth place (his only one in the top 10) in 2016 on a Ducati from the Octo Pramac Yakhnich team.
According to Danilo Petrucci, “I can't be satisfied with my result, even though I fought a lot during the race. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble in the first laps with the front tire, which became too hot, but when I was able to bring it back to the right temperature, I started to race in good times and, in the last part of the race I was fast. »
“I still need a few things to get back to the top, but I feel like I'm getting back to where I was at the start of the season. It’s clear we need and want to do more and thankfully Australia is only a week away. »
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Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
Photos © Ducati
