Halfway through the 2025 WorldSBK season, Danilo Petrucci sits third in the championship... and is already preparing for a major shift. After two and a half seasons with Barni Racing on the Ducati V3R, the Italian will ride a BMW factory machine for the first time starting in 4, taking over from Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Arriving in Superbike in 2023, "Petrux" has piled up solid benchmarks: a spectacular hat-trick in Cremona in 2024 as a customer rider, and a consistency that currently places him at the heart of a four-peat: Razgatlioglu (BMW) and Open up (Ducati) in front, Baptist (Ducati) and Locatelli (Yamaha) just behind.
The observation guided him: "when you are third in the World Championship, you look at who is in front of you: a BMW factory and Factory Ducati “, he explains to Corsedimoto. “ I made a very difficult decision on the human level, and it is also demanding in terms of pressure and expectations, but that's what I wanted. I want to try to do more and improve my results »
Danilo Petrucci: “ Humanly, it's the most difficult part of my life »
The hardest part, he confides, was announcing his departure to Marco Barnabò and the clan. Barni, with whom the story is intimate and founding:
« Humanly, it's the most difficult part of my life. ", breath Petrucci. " I know how passionate Marco Barnabò is about racing and how much he helped meRacing for Barni in 2011 allowed me to move up to MotoGP in 2012. Later, I was able to join his factory Superbike team. I would have liked to continue, but I would have continued to have the excuse of riding a satellite bike rather than a factory bike »
The message is clear: to 34 years, Petrucci chooses maximum liabilityA factory box, high expectations, and the stated objective of playing for the title. Until then, the mission is twofold: finish 2025 strong with Barni and lay the foundations for 2026 with BMW without losing the momentum gained. Whatever the crest, Petrux draws the same line: give yourself one more chance, and not hide behind the circumstances in WSBK.
