Danilo Petrucci’s racing story is a very peculiar one, so much so that he has not at all followed the standards we are used to. At 33 years old, this now veteran is once again tasting Prosecco with a hat-trick of victories in the Italian round of the WSBK.
The Italian shone like no other in Cremona, and left no crumbs behind. Considering that Petrucci is one of the riders who inspires the most affection from the fans due to his peculiarities and his way of being, there were many who were happy. But behind those victories, in fact behind just the first, Danilo had achieved a milestone that no other rider in the history of motorcycling had achieved.
Petrucci’s career is so extensive and his ability to adapt is so broad that he has been able to win in different categories. This is nothing new, in fact many drivers have won in different categories. All the fastest drivers on the planet have won championships or races wherever they have been, but in Petrucci’s case it is particular.
Danilo Petrucci followed a different path than we were used to
Unlike what we were used to in Spain, where the path was clear until a few years ago in prototypes, with the intention of reaching the World Championship, in Italy the Stock races were very strong. Danilo started winning internationally in the STK600 World Cup, then moved on to the STK1000 World Cup where he also won races and from there, in a peculiar leap, he moved on to the MotoGP World Championship with a CRT. Although he did well, he had to wait until 2019 to achieve his first victory in the premier class.
His time in MotoGP ended with an unexpected jump to compete in the Dakar Rally where, in case you don’t remember, he won a stage in his only participation to date. He then returned to speed, to MotoAmerica and, as you might have guessed, managed to climb to the top of the podium. He now competes in WSBK and thanks to his victory he has become the only rider to have won races (or stages) in STK600, STK1000, WSBK, Dakar and MotoGP.
If it is already difficult to win in different championships, it is even more difficult to do so in different modalities and also “in between” because the Dakar was a parenthesis in speed, and that is what is really striking about this story.
A story that Danilo can make even bigger if he ends up competing in the World Endurance Championship or, who knows, in the Sidecar Championship to try to emulate our great Fernando González de Nicolás.
