Rins near-miss blew my chance, says Petrucci
Pramac Ducati's Danilo Petrucci felt he had a golden chance to clinch his maiden premier class triumph at Assen, but was left to rue a near-miss on the last lap of the race involving returning Ecstar Suzuki rider Alex Rins, a lap down on wet tyres.
Petrucci lost vital ground as he chased Valentino Rossi and had to settle for the runner-up spot in the end, missing out by only 0.063s.
"Yes [almost won], but at the end I finished second, if we had a second chance... but at the end it is not possible. Anyway it was a great race because at the beginning we were quite calm, following [Johann] Zarco, then when I saw Valentino go in front I tried to follow him. I think on the dry he was a little bit faster but then the rain comes and he was in front. It was quite difficult and I tried many times to go in front but it was too risky," he said.
"Then I noticed I was a little bit faster in corner 12 on the acceleration, my Ducati was faster, and I passed him with four laps to go. Then Vale overtook me again. Then in the last lap I found Rins at corner six that was lapped and we nearly crashed for passing him; anyway I lost Valentino but we arrived very close. I am happy because for me it is a great result, but this time I felt the win was very close. I'm also happy for the championship because we are quite close and even for the fans because the first four riders are very close."
Petrucci is optimistic he can be involved at the front again in next weekend's race in Germany after a strong performance at the Sachsenring on the Ducati in 2016.
"The common thing from yesterday was that all the sessions I was at the front and then I lost at the end. This time, again, I felt the victory but at the end I lost again. Anyway, this is one of my favourite tracks and since Tuesday I'm saying that I wanted to be very strong here," he said.
"I'm happy because next week we are in Germany and it is another track that I like. Last year I was in second row in the dry and I was leading the race in the wet, so I am quite happy."
Asked in the post-race press conference if he took fewer chances to win the race because he was battling with fellow Italian rider Rossi, Petrucci brushed off the suggestion and said the falling rain on the final laps meant extra caution was required to avoid crashing.
"I tried many times to pass Valentino but in that moment it was raining and we really don't know how much the ground is wet, so maybe you can try and go in and maybe crash, and crash with Valentino, but if it was Marc then it is the same thing," he said.
"When you are second and first, crashing is not a happy thing so you have to be very quiet, especially because I am always in Race Direction. I don't know how many yellow cards - I have a big collection - so I have to stay calm and don't touch anyone!"
French rider Johann Zarco opted to pit when the rain came on to change to wet tyres, but Petrucci said the minimal volume of water on the circuit did not necessitate a switch.
"At the beginning when the rain comes we saw only the white flag, which means there is very few drops on the track. I saw on my windscreen little rain, but not too much.
"We knew that when the water is flowing from the windscreen it is very heavy, but this time not, so we were very careful but there was not enough water on the track and it was useless to change the bike."
