Danilo Petrucci returned to action this week, participating in the two days of World Superbike testing in Jerez. The rider is heading into his second season in the championship and, for now, is not satisfied with the work done as problems from 2023 persist.
The Barni Spark Racing Team rider stated, as quoted on GPOne.com: ‘I thought that having an extra year of experience would be helpful, but instead, we «moved» the bike a bit to try to solve the lack of grip in fast corners. Let’s say I always have some difficulty when there’s little grip in that phase because, weighing a bit more, I stress the tyre more. So I also have to try to change my riding style a bit’.
The problems reach the point where Petrucci feels he was unable to take full advantage of the new tyres, neither in qualifying conditions nor in race conditions: ‘I’m not very happy with the times on new tyres because at the beginning, I can’t take advantage of the qualifying or race tyre. It’s the limit we also had last year because, although I am consistent and can do the same race in the same lap time, I can’t make a leap forward with new tyres. It wasn’t entirely voluntary that last year I recovered from the middle of the race, but a consequence of the fact that others are much faster at the beginning, while I am at the end. I have to understand and change some things’.
Difficulties that Petrux was unable to eliminate even with a new Ducati Panigale V4 R, as he stated: ‘The bike is new even if structurally it is the same as last year, but I couldn’t solve what were my weaknesses from last season, so I will have to change something more in throttle management and other aspects’.