Petrucci returned to his disqualification and explained how it went. He also told us about his progress, how he is limited by his weight and the rivalry between Bassani and Rinaldi
7 maggio 2023
Barcelona – Can you give me a summary of this weekend?
“In Barcelona we didn’t get what we deserved, but the balance is negative especially for what happened yesterday. A difficult thing to comment. They decide long lap penalties for those who put a centimeter of rubber on the green line, for those who throw an opponent to the ground and they disqualify me only because when I weighed myself my assistant had the chest protector, who had gone to get me a bottle of water ”
So did you have the ches protector yesterday?
“In the race I had it under my suit. As always. But once the race was over I gave the gloves and front guard to my assistant. At that point a commissioner called me to go and weigh me. I only got my gloves back and my assistant went off to get me some water. Once on the scale, I was asked where the chest protector was and I replied that my assistant who was returning had it. The commissioner’s response was: “go ahead”. I saw they were writing something, but I didn’t give them a miss and left. Later I learned of the disqualification”
Did you appeal?
“Of course I did and for this I paid 1,300 euros in cash, without, among other things, receiving any receipt. But the incredible thing is that my appeal request will be evaluated by another Stewart, who should discredit a colleague…”
Let’s talk about the races which is better…
“Speaking of the races, I can say that we have made small steps forward. In Race 2 I tried to take first place among the Independets. I believed it, and I was behind Aegerter the whole race, but with five laps to go the rear tire collapsed. First I lost two seconds per lap and in the final I ran on the canvas losing other positions. I am very sorry for the team. Despite all the work we are doing we are not getting the desired results. I would like to bring home a top five like it happened in Indonesia, but at the moment I can’t. Under braking, the situation improved, but under acceleration I lose a lot of lateral energy on the tyre, and this mainly depends on the fact that I’m very heavy.”
Controversial issue of weight.
“From 2017 to 2019 in the GP my weight was a positive factor due to the type of tires used in that period. Now it’s the other way around, and light riders like Pedrosa or Bautista are the favourites. When I arrived in Superbike I didn’t expect my weight to be such a serious problem. To be honest, however, it must be said that Bautista doesn’t win just because he’s light, but above all because he has everything under control and rides the Panigale in a different way. I don’t aspire to stay with him, but my goal is to be permanently in the top five”.L
What do you think of yesterday’s contact between Rinaldi and Bassani?
“I think there is a lot of rivalry and a lot of nervousness between the two. Michael’s saddle is highly sought after by those who don’t have a factory bike, but perhaps Bassani was the one who lost the most yesterday. I don’t want the possibility of going to that team to be taken away. Given the results, Axel deserves a factory team, Ducati or whatever. Perhaps Rinaldi is tense because he still hasn’t managed to get the results he would like, but he is a strong rider like Bassani, who is fifth in the championship. Today he overtook me twice in the final laps. I was practically broken down, with the four arrows on, and he screwed me right at the end “
