Danilo Petrucci Returns To MotoGP

[advrider]

Danilo Petrucci’s wild 2022 racing season continues, with news that he’s going to race for Suzuki at Thailand this weekend, filling in for Joan Mir.

This unexpected last-minute replacement gig means that in the past 12 months, Petrux has gone from racing MotoGP (for KTM’s Tech3 team—his contracted was done at the end of the 2021 season) to racing Dakar (where he raced on an all-new Tech3 team, and acquitted himself well) to racing MotoAmerica (where he finished second overall) to back to MotoGP, on a factory bike.

That’s the wildest season anyone has had in decades, and Petrucci said as much in an interview with MotoGP.com:

Needless to say, I’m so happy for the chance to race in Thailand with Team Suzuki Ecstar. I want to thank the Team for giving me this fantastic opportunity. I also want to thank Ducati and my current team management for letting me take this stand-in ride. I’m really curious to jump on the GSX-RR and try it, it looks very fast and we know it’s a winning machine. I’m also eager to work with the Suzuki crew, that I’ve known for a long time now and we have a wonderful relationship. I know it won’t be easy, so I’m not putting any expectations on the experience, I just want to enjoy it. I’m also excited to be one of the few riders in history jumping from a MotoGP machine to a Dakar bike, a Superbike, then another factory MotoGP bike!

Admittedly, the Suzuki substitute job isn’t exactly an ideal gig. Suzuki is winding down its final season in MotoGP for the foreseeable future, and Mir is currently sitting 14th overall (teammate Alex Rins is 10th overall). However, it’s still a factory bike, and just the offer of such ride is a compliment—and yet another wild twist in Petrucci’s fortunes.

What’s next for Petrucci? He is supposedly not returning to Dakar for 2023, which is unfortunate—after winning Stage 5 of the 2022 rally, it was evident that he had the right stuff to run at the front. It would have been exciting to watch his off-road career progress. However, he’s not expected to retire; he’s expected to head over to Ducati’s World Superbike program, where he can continue the strong performances he put up with the Panigale V4 in the American superbike series.

 

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