July 15, 2012. Mugello. On a day in which headlines were written by Jorge Lorenzo, romping to a five second win and Casey Stoner, lagging behind in eighth, beset by tyre and braking woes, a local young hopeful racing in old hand Giampiero Sacchi’s IodaRacing CRT outfit inconspicuously retired out of a lowly 16th.
Fast forward a little under five years and few could have predicted that this same Italian, stockier and heavier than most of the MotoGP field, with an more alternative route into the top class, would be finishing 2.3 seconds off victory at Mugello while muscling national hero Valentino Rossi out of the top three.
As he walked through the pressroom in the wake of an emotional podium ceremony on Sunday, to a round of journalist and photographers’ applause, stopping to thank anyone that offered him a hand, it was easy to forget that five years before, Danilo Petrucci had qualified last for his first home grand prix, more than four seconds off the quickest time of the weekend.
Coming home third at Mugello was an astonishing feat for a rider that had only climbed these heights once before – and that was in the wet. That he produced this showing after a nightmare Saturday, during which he was twice a faller, and had his best qualifying lap chalked off, made it all the more so. In the past year, Andrea Dovizioso, Scott Redding, the Espargaro brothers and Eugene Laverty have all spoken out on his aggressive, late-braking style, against which it is so difficult to overtake. But there was no evidence of that here, as Petrucci launched clean attacks on Rossi and Maverick Viñales to sit as high as second with four laps to go.
It was surprising to hear crew chief Daniele Romagnoli speaking soon after the podium ceremony. Amid deserved congratulatory backslapping and high fiving at the back of the Pramac garage, Romagnoli was a picture of understated calm. ‘I thought a top five was possible. But this…’ he trailed off. ‘And he had to use his rear tyre up to get to the front too. Maybe he could have finished even higher.’
Not bad for a rider that last won a competitive race mid-way through October, 2011. The five intervening years have been quite a journey for the man from Terni. From a history in the European Superstock series – hardly a hotbed of upcoming GP talent – to occasional CRT point scorer, Petrucci’s road to the top has been unconventional to say the least.
His years aboard a painfully slow Aprilia-powered Ioda and Suter-framed BMW, forced him to push decrepit CRT machinery to its absolute limits, in order to make any kind of impression on team bosses. Bruising injuries, like the left wrist he so painfully broke at Jerez in 2014, were one of the drawbacks. Very little has come easy to the 26-year old. Even the factory-backed GP17 on which he currently finds himself was earned through a bruising, stress-inducing scrap with his team-mate Redding in the second half of 2016. Petrucci had to work his way up the ladder the hard way.
Just before the punishing fall in Andalusia three years ago, Petrucci had given serious thought to stopping too, as he struggled to find enjoyment, regularly finishing outside the points. But that spell on the sidelines reminded him he was living out a childhood dream, born through weekends following his dad – a member of Loris Capirossi’s Pileri Honda 250 team – around Europe.
‘Sometimes someone in an interview asks, ‘What work are you going to do if you don’t race?’ I don’t know, because since I was a child I thought, ‘One day I have to be in MotoGP.’ Ten years ago I watched every one of them on TV,’ he told me last year. ‘I came from dirt bike, from motocross, from trials, but never I’d never tried a racing bike. I watched them always, and now to see my name in the middle was a sort of… Fuck! Is that the Petrucci I know?’
Not only was it that unconventional path into MotoGP that marks him out. His sense of humour and laidback demeanour add to the charm. ’Why do you always come here?’ he jokingly inquired of the media at the close of one interaction last year. ‘I always say the same bullshit.’ In the post-race press conference Petrucci spoke of the inspiration for his showing. ‘After Jerez, Paolo Campinoti, the boss of Pramac, said, ‘You did a good race but in Mugello you have to make me a good present.’ I said, ‘Where do I have to buy it?’ Then I discover it was not possible to buy a podium.’
A factory GP17 he may have, but that’s not to say Petrucci’s weekends are straightforward. Normally asked to test settings different to those of factory men Andrea Dovizoso and Jorge Lorenzo, the Pramac man finds himself as a semi-test rider at times. Mugello, however, saw him allowed to focus on race set-up all weekend long. Results have been steadily impressive in spite of this role. “Petrucci is also improving a lot as a rider,” noted Lorenzo on Sunday evening. Take his retirements in Qatar and France out of the equation and Petrucci would be ahead of Lorenzo in the title race, and just behind Johann Zarco, one of this season’s real sensations.
Not only was this the race of Petrucci’s life. It was confirmation that the Italian can now be counted as a top ten regular, capable of challenging the very best on occasion. His ascendance is an example to any rider dogged by uncompetitive machinery that, with enough determination, desire and talent and you can go the whole way; even beating the Greatest of all Time at his home race. In this time of unprecedented variety in MotoGP, who’s to say he can’t spring more of these surprises in the near future?
Photos by CormacGP
