MotoAmerica Ridge Motorsports Park J2: When Danilo Petrucci gives the finger and is summoned…

For its 5th meeting of a season which includes 10, the championship MotoAmerica Superbike traveled to the North-West of the USA, near Seattle, to Ridge Motorsports Park. Danilo Petrucci (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC) arrives at the top of the general classification, but with a lead of only 7 points over Mathew Scholtz (Westby Racing), while the relentless dominator of the 2021 season, Jake Gagne (Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing), only appears in 3rd position, at 25 points, following numerous adventures, mechanical or otherwise.

Although having to discover all the circuits, Austin aside, Danilo Petrucci started the year in style with three consecutive victories, before suffering his first and only retirement in the second race at Road Atlanta and then reaching the podium in three of the last four races. A very solid course, even if the Italian discovered over the weekends certain specificities of races in the USA...

And in this regard, petrux Although he is one of the nice riders we know, he doesn't want to be seen as an idiot and is in the process of making a "new friend" in the meager MotoAmerica field. Going back…

During the penultimate round, at Virginia International Raceway, Danilo Petrucci had finished the second race on the ground after crossing the finish line. The consequences and his rant, we remember. The circumstances too: “ I fell at 280 km/h on the finish line which is a corner that is done in sixth gear to avoid hitting another driver. »

“The other pilot” was Matthew Scholz (Westby Racing), who finished the said race 4 hundredths of a second ahead of the Italian, and is currently in 2nd place in the championship. Bruised in his flesh, the Transalpine apparently kept a grudge against the South African, and this was revealed during the first day of this weekend at Ridge Motorsports Park during which Petrux announced that he would not participate in the Dakar this winter.

After experiencing a clutch problem during free practice, Danilo Petrucci was forced to use his backup motorcycle for the first qualifying. Time to fit a new clutch on it and the Ducati rider only had 15 minutes to set his time... and get knocked down again by Matthew Scholz in the deceleration lap. Undoubtedly the straw that broke the camel's back for the usually good-natured Italian, who gave a shoulder to the South African stopped for a test start, before turning around and giving him the finger of honor.

The two men were summoned by the race management to defuse the conflict, but we know the Italian and South African characters...

This Saturday, the second qualification saw Jake Gagne explode his own circuit record, in front of a Danilo Petrucci apparently reinvigorated.

The first race of the weekend was eventful, with in particular two red flags due to falls which led the race management to reduce it to 8 laps instead of the 16 planned.
Without any real surprise given the tests, it was won by Jake Gagne, almost 4 seconds ahead of his teammate Cameron Petersen, 6 ahead Danilo Petrucci (footrest problem), and 12 in front… Mathew Scholtz.

A result which allows the Italian to retain leadership of the championship, while waiting for Race 2 scheduled for Sunday.

Photo credit: MotoAmerica