Danilo Petrucci in 2023 will be the most anticipated rookie in the Superbike World Championship. He immediately wants to give the best drivers in the championship a hard time.
About Matthew Bellan de Motoracing
The 2023 Superbike World Championship will be of the highest level and Danilo Petrucci is one of the most anticipated protagonists. Although he races for an independent team, Barni Racing, he has a great desire to fight with the best drivers in the category. He will have the spotlight on him. In 2022, as a rookie, he nearly won the MotoAmerica Superbike title, but Jake Gagne et Yamaha took over. Ducati had offered him to stay in the USA with more technical support, to have a better chance of winning, but he preferred to go to World SBK. He will play his cards and hope to surprise everyone.
Petrucci absolutely has the potential to be a great protagonist in Superbike. This is someone who has won two MotoGP races and been on the podium eight times. During his debut on the Dakar, he managed to win a stage. And, as mentioned before, as a beginner in MotoAmerica, he came close to the title. He knows how to adapt well to different situations. There is no doubt about the pilot's worth.
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It is legitimate to wonder if the team Barni Racing will know how to put it in the best conditions to be competitive. Marco Barnabò's team is coming from disappointing seasons and in the Panigale V4R era they almost never managed to achieve significant results. Petrux is certainly a higher level driver than those who came before him and it's easy to foresee growth. His presence can be of great help to the Bergamo team, eager for change and which has all the means to shine again.
The Umbrian rider will have an excellent technical package, given that the Ducati Panigale V4 R won the last World Superbike and in 2023 it will benefit from some updates that should improve it further. It will be a motorcycle similar to that of the duo Bautista-Rinaldi from the Aruba Racing factory team. The potential to do well is there.
Compared to Alvaro Bautista et Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Petrux is larger and heavier. It will be necessary to understand to what extent his build will condition him to be able to take full advantage of the V4R. In the recent past we have seen drivers like Chaz Davies et Scott Redding do well, but without being at the level of Baptist. We will see what the rider from Terni will be able to do, and he would certainly welcome the introduction of the weight limit with that of the rider in Superbike from 2024. He dreams of the factory team, but now he is entirely focused on his experience with Barni.
