Was this “fairytale” the biggest shock in WorldSBK 2024?

WorldSBK Race 1 at Assen was arguably most shocking race of the year in any discipline of motorcycle racing, as Nicholas Spinelli won on debut for the Barni Spark Ducati team.

Spinelli had been drafted in by Barni to replace Danilo Petrucci, who in the build up to the Dutch Round had sustained serious injuries while riding motocross to train.

Spinelli had gained some experience in the WorldSBK paddock in 2023 when he raced the Supersport World Championship, but prior to practice at Assen in April the Italian hadn’t ridden the Superbike-spec Panigale V4 R.

Nonetheless, he was able to take advantage of changeable conditions and a gamble to run intermediate tyres to get himself to the front and then stay there until a red flag came out just as he was being caught by Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista.

“The fact that we got this guy who had never been on this bike and win a race really seems more like a fairytale than a race,” Barni Ducati team owner Marco Barnabo told WorldSBK.com.

“It was incredible. It was extraordinary because, honestly, we didn’t expect it at all. It was an indescribable emotion.

“I started laughing when I realised we had won the race — actually, to tell the truth, I started laughing on the first lap when we pulled seven or eight seconds ahead of everyone and I didn’t stop laughing all day.

“It’s a dream we’ve been chasing since we started in the championship, and it’s something that I’d love to wish for everyone who does my job.

“The sacrifices all managers make to race in this championship, both financially and in terms of commitment, are immense. Achieving such success makes all the hard work worthwhile.

Danilo Petrucci said that it was encouragement from him that stopped the Barni team from skipping Assen altogether.

“Barni was not really happy to race without me, and I said ‘No, come on, try some young rider,’ and he [Marco Barnabo] had already in mind Nicholas [Spinelli].

“I’ve been really happy for Barni, for Nicholas who is really a clever guy and a good rider.

“I immediately sent a message to Marco and I said ‘This has been really our lucky week,’ because I was escaping from death, and after 10 days he won the first race in a very particular way. I don’t believe in a lot of things, but something crazy happened.”