Former MotoGP racer Danilo Petrucci made his MotoAmerica debut in the Auto Parts 4 LessChampionship at COTA. With a background in the most rigorous motorcycle racing series in the world, MotoAmerica is looking to be quite an easy challenge for the Italian racer, after bagging a victory in both races in the MotoAmerica opening round. That’s right, the former KTM Tech3 rider won the Saturday and Sunday race at COTA.
Petrucci won his debut MotoAmerica race, and came back the very next day to do even better. He didn’t just win, either, he absolutely decimated the competition, finishing ahead of the pack by 5.1 seconds on Sunday. He was, however, met with fierce competition in the form of Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, with whom the Italian engaged in heated battles for pole position. Petrucci, however, managed to shake the South African racer from his tail, and eventually take the victory with a sizable margin.
Current MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion Jake Gagne was cruising comfortably behind the two racers, and finished third to take a total of 16 valuable points. This comes after Gagne suffered several technical issues with his bike over the weekend, most notable of which was the mechanical failure of his Yamaha racing machine in race one. Overall, it was a decent race weekend for the current champion, taking an overall third-place finish. He certainly looks to redeem himself in two weeks’ time, when MotoAmerica moves to Road Atlanta for the second round of the championship.
All that being said, Danilo Petrucci continues to be the star of the series following the first round. Commenting on his stellar debut race weekend, the Italian stated in a report published by Superbike News, “Definitely I have to be happy for this weekend. I didn’t know what would be my level. The only thing I knew was this track. Fortunately, our bike is really good on braking and on maximum speed. I can carry that speed in the corner. I need to brake hard and pick up the bike in the straight. Definitely have to say thanks to all my team because we had really quite few chances to ride and to make experience.”
It seems that Danilo Petrucci’s extensive experience in the MotoGP is paying dividends in MotoAmerica. It comes as a huge plus that the two-time MotoGP race winner is getting very comfortable on his Ducati Panigale race bike, too. Hopefully he can carry over the momentum to Road Atlanta slated to happen from April 22 to 24, 2022.
