Danilo Petrucci suffers “stupid accident”, delays BMW WorldSBK debut

Danilo Petrucci’s run to third place in the 2025 WorldSBK standings has been halted by a “stupid accident”, the Italian says, and his injury will delay his BMW debut, too.

Petrucci entered the penultimate round of the 2025 World Superbike Championship at Estoril 30 points clear of Andrea Locatelli and 31 points clear of Alvaro Bautista, but a broken metacarpal sustained in advance of the Estoril Round saw Petrucci declared unfit after the opening practice of the weekend there.

The Italian underwent surgery on Monday (13 October) in order to aid the recovery of the broken bone, but his hopes of trying to defend his bronze medal position in the final round of the season were over already on Thursday as he was declared unfit once again.

Petrucci said the conclusion of his season had made him “sad”, and he clearly regretted the nature of the way he was injured, which he described as “stupid”.

“I feel sad about this end of the season,” Danilo Petrucci said after being declared unfit on Thursday in Jerez, speaking to WorldSBK.com.

“Really bad luck. A stupid accident at the gym, it became really a disaster for my championship. 

“I always knew that to fight for something in one championship you have to be really ready all the free practice, all the qualifying; but you need also to be careful at home and at the gym. 

“My hand was already with a lot of metal, plates, screws, and whatever, and it was so weak. So, I tried last week in Estoril but the situation was getting worse, so I got surgery. 

“But now the hand is really in a bad shape and it’s not possible for me to ride anymore. 

“I’m so sorry for everyone, and also for myself, but for one hand I gave everything I had.”

Petrucci added that his hand is already starting to progress in its recovery since surgery on Monday, but he will now not ride the BMW M1000 RR he will campaign next season until the end of November.

“I move the hand and it’s already quite good but it’s not enough to ride the bike,” he said.

“Last week [in Estoril], with one broken bone and without surgery it was almost impossible, now it’s really impossible to ride the bike. 

“So, we decided to not race and also to cancel the test for next season for next Tuesday and I will ride – hopefully 100 per cent fit – at the end of November here [Jerez] for the first time with BMW.”

The delay in his BMW debut means Petrucci will ride the M1000 RR for the first time at the same time as his 2026 teammate Miguel Oliveira, who had no option to attend the post-race tests in Jerez next week due to his ongoing commitments in MotoGP, whose season does not finish until 16 November.