Danilo Petrucci had been warned by his current boss Hervé Poncharal upon his arrival at Assen: this last deadline in the Netherlands before the summer break will have major consequences on the choices to come for the 2022 season. By this, mean that s There is still a chance to assert yourself as a contender for the last orange RC16 at stake in the French team's box, now is the time to play it. A survival mode that Petrucci has often experienced at Ducati, and in which he excels. The proof is that he is already potentially in Q2…
Danilo Petrucci is happy this evening to count himself among the two KTM who are currently in Q2 in the Dutch Grand Prix in Assen. And if the weather proves to be terrible for FP3 on Saturday morning, this position risks being definitive. A breath of fresh air for the Italian who showed by his reactions in Germany that he was under a lot of pressure. On this level, he says: “ I've been in this position many times, I just have to be the best driver I can be. That's just it. I can't do anything anymore. Looking back, it's always easy, but I can't think of any time, neither this year nor in previous years, where I could have given more ».
That being said, he looks back on his solid Friday at Assen. Sixth during the FP1, he found himself eleventh in the FP2 wet to point ninth in the combined standings. And so in this famous top 10: “ In general, for my riding style, having a lot of rear grip helps. I can slow the bike down without losing it too much and here in the Netherlands, where there are a lot of fast corners, I can take tight corners without fighting with the bike. Since this morning I feel comfortable with the grip and that's the key to being fast right away. Having plenty of grip, especially in corners, helps. We will try to exploit these good feelings until Sunday ».
Petrucci: “It’s a very important race”
He adds : " This is a very important race! First of all I want to go on vacation and then I want to go there happy. Seriously, as mentioned previously, it's a track where you don't brake much and where you have good bike balance. Ending the first part of the season with a good race is essential, also because I crashed in Barcelona and they knocked me out at the Sachsenring. The last race I saw the finish line was Mugello, so it will be an important race ».
He finishes : " I feel the KTM more like my motorcycle, there is still an aerodynamic problem, but it is not possible to solve that at the moment. Now that she has come to meet me, I try to adapt to her, I lose a lot on the straights and that pushes me to brake later to recover, but that doesn't help. But I have often fought for the podium here and I am always happy to drive here ". This can only please his boss...
MotoGP Assen J1: combined classification
Credit classification motogp.com
