Petrucci: “I thought it'd be difficult - but not like this"

Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) was expecting the race at Aragon to be difficult – but not as difficult as it was. Only a couple of weeks after his stunning podium at Misano, the Italian found himself crossing the line in P20 following grip struggles – and is hoping to be back at the front at Motegi, which should suit the GP17 Ducati.

Danilo Petrucci, P20: “I thought it could be a difficult race but not like this. I started by trying to not use the rear tyre too much but after five laps I had no grip, which I don’t think is completely our fault because two weeks ago in Misano we were quite competitive in wet and dry, but today I finished 20th with two crashes. We completely changed our setup both yesterday and today but there were no major changes and I don’t know where the problem is. For sure I used 130% of the tyre, so 30% over the maximum consumption limit, and going so slowly but having this high consumption is not normal. We will see.

“I’m happy that this weekend is finished, first of all. Motegi is a very, very different track and we are quite competitive there as is Ducati because of long braking areas, long acceleration. We will see but for sure this is a weekend to forget.”