The press conference held at the end of the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello brought together Danilo Petrucci, Marc Marquez et Andrea Dovizioso.
As usual, we report here the raw words of Danilo Petrucci, without the slightest journalistic interpretation, even if it was undoubtedly one of the most moving press conferences in recent years.
Danilo, what an incredible feeling it must be to take your first MotoGP victory at Mugello, especially since you were a little ill...
Danilo Petrucci : “yes, it’s really great! I haven't yet realized that I won my first race here. This morning I woke up in good shape but I saw that it was very hot and during the previous days I had always felt very, very tired after a few laps.”
“The race? After the start, there were a lot of guys who wanted to stay in front, so I said to myself “OK, the pace is not that high so I try to stay in front to avoid risks”. After a few laps, I was able to take command and I told myself that from there, I was going to ride on my own and try to save energy, both for the final but also for the tires. I told myself that I would try to attack with about 5 laps to go. But with 5 laps to go, I said to myself “maybe 3”
(laughs). Then 2 (laughs). Then maybe someone would try to pass me on the last lap. And I was right (laughs). I knew that Marc and Andrea were going to try to overtake me at the first corner using the slipstream. And when they passed me, I said to myself “noooo, again!” I led the whole race and I will still finish 3rd or 4th”. But then they moved away a little and I found a small passage to dive into. I'm really sorry that Andrea had to lift his bike, but I knew I had a great chance today to take my first victory. I then tried to attack on the last lap and arrived at the last corner. When I came out of the last corner and got into 4th gear, I said to myself “Now, if I am to believe the story of my life, I should come out 1st and finish 3rd”. But then I passed 4th, then 5th and waited for Marc and Dovi, then I passed 6th and crossed the finish line at that moment. But like I told you, I didn’t realize it.”
“For sure, I would like to dedicate this victory to Andrea, my teammate, who adopted me like a child this winter, or rather like a brother because I would be a very big child (laughs). This is incredible between 2 teammates. Of course we have different goals this year and I'm really sorry that he lost a few points today, but I really wanted to win the race today and I'm very happy. Now we have to think about the team's goal for this year, but I would really like to thank Ducati and my family."
This victory lends credibility to your presence in MotoGP despite some criticism in the past…
" Yes. In the past, I thought many times about quitting my career because I told myself that it wasn't my world. Also at the start of the year, I said to myself "OK, I'm trying this year but I don't have a contract for next season", so I put a little pressure on myself. And after the first 2 races, the results were not very good and, once again, it was Andrea who helped me in this period by telling me not to think about the future but to think about the present, try to enjoy what I was doing and focus on my positives. And from Jerez, I started to say to myself
» OK, I'm going to do the best I can this year. If it's good enough, it's OK, otherwise, if I can't win with this bike, I wouldn't be able to win with any other bike and so it's not my world.".
“But today I won, and maybe I will change my program for the future (laughs).”
I would like to know how you felt on the last lap, in the first corner…
“I knew that Marc and Andrea were going to try to overtake me on the slipstream in the straight. They did it and they braked really hard while I braked a little earlier. And as I was very close to the curbs, there was only 1,5 m where I put my motorcycle. Andrea was closing her turn but I was there. I'm really sorry for this passage. Let me explain: Andrea is the last person in the world I want to force to lift their bike. But today I think I had a good chance of winning. As I told you, that was my goal for this year and now we can focus on our goal for the season. I think now I will be more, let's say relaxed, and we will be able to think about improving the bike and trying to win the championship with Andrea.
Can you describe your emotion to us after such a long-awaited victory?
“Honestly, this morning I wasn't very well but a little better than the last few days. So I really tried to manage my energy during the race. Then, after the finish line, I started screaming and I had a really hard time doing the victory lap: it was very hard because I had no more air to scream! » (Laughs).
Is your new goal now to help Dovizioso win the title?
“Anyway, as we have told you since the start of the season, we have 2 different objectives. Mine was to win my first race, then we have to achieve Andrea's goal and I will try to do everything possible to achieve that goal. I am really sorry. I think both Marc and Andrea could have won today. But we are always at the limit in a competition. This time it was for me and I think I had a great opportunity, but next time I think I will think about the championship. I think we are the best team in MotoGP, the points say it, so we can work together to be the best at the end of the year.”
You seemed to hold the rope better than the other Ducatis in the first and last corner. Do you have an explanation for this?
“I always have strange lines for some people because I always go towards the inside of the corner while braking. And that's always been a problem for me to then turn the bike around, especially because I need a lot of load on the rear tire to do that. But I know Mugello very well because I used to be a test rider for Ducati there. I don't know how many laps I did here in 2011, maybe more than 1000 laps during the year. Of course with a Superbike or a Superstock, not a MotoGP, but I always liked this circuit. At the first corner I braked really hard but on the last lap I was afraid of hitting someone. But I found this passage and it was good. I had already done a lot of overtaking in this last corner because I can follow the curbs there, which helps me a lot when overtaking during a race.”
Did you have a special meeting with Ducati before this race to find out what you could do and how? And also with Andrea?
" No. We had a meeting at the start of the season where they said the goal was of course to win. I had to win but of course I shouldn't do crazy things with Andrea. From my point of view, there was this passage and I did my best. During the race, I had already overtaken a lot this way.”
“This time there was no meeting and they just told me to try to win the race.”
MotoGP Italian Grand Prix standings:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
