Danilo Petrucci: Balaton Park is “a mix” of two other WorldSBK tracks

Danilo Petrucci has compared the Balaton Park circuit to a combination of Most and Cremona.

The Italian was one of several riders present at the production bike test at Balaton in June, and his opinion of the track has been positive in general ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Round.

Track characteristics similar with the venues that have hosted the Czech and Italian World Superbike rounds this year means Petrucci is optimistic of his chances in Hungary.

“I had fun on the track, it’s a heavy braking track, lots of heavy braking, lots of hairpins, lots of chicanes,” Danilo Petrucci told WorldSBK.com.

“It feels like a mix of Cremona and Most; fortunately, I’m fast at both!

“I think it’s going to be fun because there are lots of opportunities to overtake with the long braking areas and hairpins. I think we’re going to see some good fights.”

Petrucci says the test has given him and the Barni team a base to work from in terms of what setup changes they could expect to make.

“We have some information about the speed on the corners and the straights, so we have a base of solutions to work with,” he said.

“We will try different sprockets as no one knows which gear ratio they will use.

For Petrucci, there is also a limited sense of deja vu on Sunday, with WorldSBK celebrating its 1,000th race – the Italian having participated in the French MotoGP in 2023 which marked the same 1,000th race milestone for the prototype series.

“I’m really proud to be participating in the WorldSBK race 1000,” Petrucci said.

“I’m really happy, especially because the wildcard I did in MotoGP was Grand Prix 1000.

“I hope we get a sunny day, but I’m so proud to be a part of this championship.”