Petrucci Ready to Race After Day One at Road America
. By Bikeland Staff
Danilo Petrucci ended the first day at Road America, round four of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship, in fifth place. The Warhorse HSBK Ducati NYC team faced its share of challenges, but former MotoGP star Petrucci continued to show his mettle qualifying while injured and learning another new track on the Panigale V4 R superbike.
Petrucci, who’s far from fully fit after crashing at VIR two weeks ago, posted a best time of 2:13.514, some 1.3 seconds faster than his previous best of 2:14.858, clocked during Practice 1.
Petrucci ended the day 2.13 seconds behind than pacesetter and championship rival Fresh N’ Lean Attack Performance Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne. Despite a rough track surface and having only two forty-minute sessions to learn the layout, Petrucci is well-placed and believes the team will be dialed in for the weekend.
Danilo Petrucci (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – Ducati #9)
“Today has been really tough physically for me. The track is really nice, but I can’t say the same for the tarmac because it’s really old. It’s full of bumps and is broken in some parts, which makes everything more difficult. We’re improving some electronic settings on the bike andtomorrow we’ll be even more competitive.”
Qualifying 2 is scheduled for Saturday, June 4 at 10:50 am EDT ahead of Race 1 at 4:10 pm EDT and Race 2 on Sunday, June 5 at 4:10 pm EDT.