It's not the kind of day that will boost Danilo Petrucci's morale. On the contrary. On a track that he dominated in the rain last year on a Ducati, he found the Bugatti circuit in the same conditions for a new French Grand Prix. But the years go by and are definitely not the same for Petrux who has not managed to get the same benefit from his KTM. Far from there...
It was a very sad Friday that lived Danilo Petrucci at Le Mans, a site which left him with such beautiful memories in 2020. The latest winner in MotoGP in Sarthe actually finds himself pale 22nd with more questions than answers about his RC16… “ It was a very difficult day » recognizes the pilot Tech3. " We tried something very different after what we learned in the Jerez test, but Ultimately it didn't work out the way we wanted.. We are not having an easy time. In my opinion, it's really tricky to stop the bike at the moment. I thought it was our strong point, but right now it's difficult ».
« For sure, we have to change the settings for tomorrow. We are quite far away and it was difficult for me to be consistent and set a decent lap time throughout the day. Hopefully the weather will be better on Saturday and obviously I will try to go faster ».
Petrucci: “It’s difficult at the moment”
The French team found a little cause for consolation with its second driver Iker Lecuona who seems to be getting better since Jerez. Fifteenth he assessed his day like this: “ I'm pretty happy with my day. I'm not in the top positions, but finally in the wet conditions, I was able to work with the soft tire this morning. I felt strong and lap after lap I understood the tires better and better, which is important for me. Overall, I was quite satisfied this morning ».
« Also, this afternoon, I was working alone, I wasn't following anyone, but I still felt very good. I improved a lot, we changed something with the base of the bike. The team worked very well, I feel confident with the RC16. Finally, we finished in P15, so we are optimistic for tomorrow » concludes the young Spaniard, the youngest in the MotoGP field who had the unpleasant surprise of learning that his first championship points acquired in Jerez had been taken away. Indeed, in the first lap of the MotoGP race in Jerez, Iker Lecuona caused the LCR Honda rider to fall Alex Marquez. The Tech3 KTM rider received a time penalty for irresponsible riding: three seconds were added to his total time in the Spanish Grand Prix. This means that he goes from 15th to 17th place…
