BMW limits the damage and looks to Portimão for a turnaround, Petrucci: "We want more"

BMW far from the podium during the Superbike weekend in Australia, but Petrux is confident he can be much more competitive on other tracks.

The rain that fell in Race 2 at Phillip Island gave Danilo Petrucci and Miguel Oliveira hope of achieving better results than in the previous heats. And so it was, also because some riders ahead crashed. The Italian finished sixth, just ahead of his teammate: he won the BMW duel in the final race, but in the overall SBK standings the Portuguese rider has one more point (17 to 16).

With the Australian round in the books, where the M 1000 RR’s struggles were anticipated, it will be interesting to see whether from Portimao (March 27–29) the Petrucci–Oliveira duo can be more competitive. There will also be a test at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, certainly useful for both to gain greater confidence with the German bike.

Petrux approached the Superbike weekend at Phillip Island as a chance to get to know the M 1000 RR better, fully aware of the challenges: "In the Superpole Race we tried to fight with the best, but we were lacking a bit of speed in some corners. It could have gone a bit better, but in the end we gained experience. I didn’t manage to finish ninth, but nothing really changed. Race 2 was very difficult, especially the visibility—it was truly scary. For almost half the race I couldn’t see anything and I think it was more or less the same for many other riders. It was very hard to see. I couldn’t find a good feeling; I was in survival mode."

Even though wet conditions have never scared him in the past, he doesn’t yet have the necessary feel with the BMW M 1000 RR to make the difference, so Race 2 was useful for gathering data with the future in mind: "It felt like riding from my home to Switzerland," Petrucci recounts, "because the race was really long; it was tough just to stay upright. In the end we managed to pick up some points and that was positive. We knew it would be tough on this track, but we scored points in both long races. Soon we’ll have another test at Portimao, so more time to get to know the bike. I’m fairly satisfied, even if we want more."

During the SBK races at Phillip Island he found himself battling with Oliveira and the two BMW riders didn’t hold back—both wanted to come out on top—even if the real goal is to fight for different results: "We had some good battles," Petrucci explains. "We said the same things about the bike; we know which areas we need to improve. We can be happy about that. I think we’ll be ready to fight for the top positions in the future."

The rider from Terni is convinced that in the next round at Portimao there will be a greater chance to run in more prominent positions: "I’m confident, because the bike works much better there than here. Having a test there before the race can allow us to work more and gain greater confidence. I can’t wait for next month to ride the bike again."