Danilo Petrucci had a sunday in Misano that he won’t forget in the next few days, as he battled on track with a lot of pain and got to end the race in a very competitive position, even coming to say that he wasn’t expecting to read the end.
‘It’s unbelievable. I didn’t expect to be here. I think, after saturday, I thought there’d be something wrong. I didn’t know how I did it! This sunday morning, I woke up, and I didn’t know how I’d make it through two races’, he began to say quoted on the official website of the championship.
Petrux then spoke about the first race of sunday: ‘In the Superpole Race, the start wasn’t really good. I was worried about crashing. A lot of riders overtook me, but they were really aggressive on each other, so they crashed into each other. I found myself in ninth place after a few laps and said: «Oh, perfect!»’.
The italian from Barni Spark Racing Team continued: ‘In Race 2, when I left the pits for the first time, I braked at Turn 4 and felt a lot of pain. I joined the starting grid and said to my team: «Maybe I do a few laps and see». It felt like a knife into my shoulder. I had a really good start. The first few corners were okay, and I was able to keep the pace, even if it was really painful’.
He then also had a look at the competition and recalled a specific battle with a fellow italian: ‘I saw [Axel] Bassani not far ahead, so I went with him because we were trying to make a gap to the riders behind. He was in trouble, and I was able to pass him, but the last four laps were a nightmare. I switched my mind but when I crossed the finish line, I felt like someone had stabbed my right shoulder’.
It wasn’t comfortable for him, at all, as explained: ‘I was in pain. It’s an incredible feeling because it was really painful, but at the same time, I remembered that after the crash that the doctor said: ‘I don’t know if you’ll be able to go on the bike again’, and after two months, I finished sixth. It was a mixed feeling between pain and joy; something that makes me cry!’.