Misano “not my favourite track” but WorldSBK podium “like a dream” for Danilo Petrucci

Race 1 at the Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK marked Danilo Petrucci’s first WorldSBK podium at Misano despite starting from eighth on the grid.

Petrucci’s battle for the majority of the race was with Alex Lowes over the final podium position, with the Italian eventually coming out on top at a circuit he described afterwards as “not my favourite”.

“It was a really hard race,” Danilo Petrucci, who extended his advantage over Alvaro Bautista in the battle for third in the 2025 World Superbike Championship thanks to his Race 1 podium, told WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Misano.

“My first World Superbike podium here in Misano.

“It’s not my favourite track, and it’s a shame because it’s so close to my home and a lot of people always come here. It was like a dream for me to stand on the podium with this crowd.

“It was really tough because, starting from the third row, I think I got a big hit in the second corner, but then I managed to find my way.

“I started to push to pass Alex [Lowes], I did it, but then when I was in front I [got] stuck there and it was so difficult then.

“He tried to overtake me, I overtook him [back], and then until the end I was waiting like my birthday because it was so hot, the track was so greasy.”

Petrucci made his passes on Lowes at turn eight, which he said he had identified early on was one of few points on the track where he felt strong.

“I knew from the beginning that I had something more in the Quercia corner, turn eight, so I used that corner to save myself,” he said.

“But I knew in some parts of the track I was so slow and I was not really flowing in the first part of the track.

“He overtook me, and I said ‘I don’t know if maybe he has the pace to go away, so maybe it’s time to go through immediately.’

“In the Quercia corner, I took his slipstream and I braked hard; I had this weapon and I used it.

“It was enough to be on the podium, but for sure [Sunday] will be even harder.”

“Not possible to stay with” Bulega, Razgatlioglu

Ordinarily, a podium finish in Race 1 would mean hopes of victory for the remaining races in the weekend, but Petrucci was almost 17 seconds off the win in Race 1 and he admitted afterwards that Nicolo Bulega and Toprak Razgatlioglu “are doing another job” at Misano.

“Sincerely, Nicolo [Bulega] and Toprak [Razgatlioglu] are doing another job, they are incredibly fast and, for me, it’s not possible to stay with them – they are using the bike and the tyre in a different way,” he said.

“I can’t do that.

“I’m trying to do something, to change my riding style, but at the end it’s always like that: the two of them in front, and me fighting with the other guys [behind].

“Sincerely, if I follow like this, to stand on the podium, I could be happy, but maybe with a bit of margin from the others!”