Petrucci: I felt really, really bad
Danilo Petrucci will be demoted three places on Sunday's Brno MotoGP grid as punishment for an incident with Eugene Laverty in Austria.
The Pramac Ducati rider caused the Irishman to fall at the very final corner, marking the end of a 'quite shit race' at the Red Bull Ring.
"I struggled a lot on the Saturday, I didn't find the right feeling. In the race I tried to attack the same, but my setup was quite new and the track doesn't permit you any mistakes, especially in the braking area," Petrucci said at Brno on Thursday.
"For sure, my biggest mistake was to try to pass Eugene at the last corner. When I understand I was too far, I lost the steering and I released the brake a few times. I hit him. I was so sorry. Eugene is a very, very nice guy and maybe the last person I want to hit on the grid.
"Fortunately he is very clever and intelligent. He understands. But there are no words when you make another rider crash. I'm so sorry. I cannot say anything about the accident. I felt really, really bad because it was my mistake and he paid at the last corner in maybe his best MotoGP race. It was a nasty moment."
Once he had finished the race, in eleventh, Petrucci's frustration increased when he realised he had plenty of fuel to spare.
"I got 1.5 litres in my tank, so maybe this was one of the problems, why I was not so competitive. My bike gave no warning and I did all the race with a very soft engine. The bike calculates this and I don't know why we waste so much fuel. Anyway it's finished and I'm really focussed on this race.
"I will try to be as close as possible close to the factory Ducatis. We have the same tyres as the Barcelona test and I felt good with that tyre. So maybe we can do a good weekend and for sure I want to finish in front of Scott [Redding] and gain some positions in the championship.
"I don't enjoy so much this track, but our bike is very good when the track is flowing, not so much braking, not so much traction. I like for example tracks like Assen where the camber is [positive]. Here the corners are all without camber and you have to have a good feeling with the front. You are on the edge of the tyre for more than 50% of the track, like Sachsenring for example.
"Many riders say this track is similar to Mugello, but that is not true. In Mugello all the corners are quite different and especially the inclination of the corners are all different. Here there is no camber. Maybe on TV it looks similar, but it is not."
