Danilo Petrucci has been drafted in to replace Enea Bastianini at Le Mans, who is still recovering from a broken shoulder that has ruled him out of every weekend since Portugal. Petrucci competed with Ducati from 2015 to 2020, spending his last two years with the factory squad, where he scored both of his grand prix wins – at Mugello in 2019 and Le Mans in 2020. After retiring from MotoGP at the end of 2021 following a year with Tech3 KTM, Petrucci has undertaken campaigns at the Dakar Rally, MotoAmerica and now World Superbikes. Competing in WSBK with Ducati-backed Barni Racing, the Italian was told about his MotoGP call-up by the factory squad on Friday at last weekend’s Catalunya round.
Petrucci expressed his gratitude to Ducati for allowing him to replace the injured rider. He recalled his last win at Le Mans and said that he had a good base set-up and knew the team and bike. He also acknowledged the difficulty of jumping into a race weekend with no testing, but said that it would be a little easier compared to last year in Thailand, when everything was new except for the track. Petrucci’s one-off appearance comes two weeks after Dani Pedrosa made a wildcard outing at Jerez, where he finished sixth and seventh in the sprint and the main race.
Petrucci believes it is not realistic for him to replicate Pedrosa’s Jerez form. He said that Dani had done a lot of kilometers on the bike in Jerez and that no one can learn something from him in Jerez. Petrucci stated that he has been on the podium three times in a row at Le Mans, but now the riders in MotoGP are really fast. He said that he can use the set-up he had three years ago and the bikes are going in that direction. Petrucci thinks that his size was already on the path for this type of set-up.
Despite having been off the bike since 2020, Petrucci says the seating position is identical to how it was when he last rode it. This will help him have an easier start to the weekend in FP1. Fortunately, they still have all the data from 2020, and also the riding position they can still use. Petrucci believes that he has his bike, and although they haven’t told him where the bike has changed, he thinks the bike has changed a lot. For the start, Petrucci thinks they are okay, but then he will need to make some kilometers to understand how the bike is.
In conclusion, Petrucci has been called up by Ducati to replace the injured Bastianini at Le Mans. Petrucci expressed his gratitude to Ducati for the opportunity to race. He acknowledged the difficulty of jumping into a race weekend with no testing but believes that it will be a little easier than last year in Thailand. Despite having been off the bike since 2020, Petrucci says the seating position is identical to how it was when he last rode it, which will help him to have an easier start to the weekend in FP1.
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