Barni Spark Racing rider Danilo Petrucci has set his sights on a podium finish at the upcoming Assen WorldSBK round, though he anticipates stiff competition.
The Italian rider returns to the Cathedral of Speed for the first time since his debut year in 2023, after missing the 2024 edition due to a life-threatening Motocross accident.
Petrucci’s 2025 campaign thus far has seen him accumulate consistent top-six finishes in Phillip Island and Portimao, including a podium appearance at the former.
His consistency places him third in the championship, behind Toprak Razgatlioglu and championship leader Nicolo Bulega.
Previewing the upcoming weekend to WorldSBK in Assen, Petrucci admitted: “I’m happy to be so in front in the standings, and yes I’d like to finish the championship in this place but it’ll be very tough.
“We are third in the championship with just one podium in the Superpole race. In Portimao, I lost at the end two podiums, one in Race 1 and one in the Superpole race.”
The Italian explained he feels comfortable aboard the Panigale V4 R, but he has yet to discover what Razgatlioglu and Bulega have found to give them their competitive edge over the field.
“It’s really difficult to be always so competitive. At the moment Toprak [Razgatlioglu] and Nicolo [Bulega] have got something more and are doing something more compared to the rest.
“But then the third position is always changing, it’s always a big fight between at least 5 or 6 riders.
“We have to simply look to improve our performance but it’s really difficult to improve the performance when you look into the details because it’s really difficult to understand the area where to improve.
“It’s difficult, we are so close but we want to be like the top two guys.”
Danilo Petrucci unsure of effect on fuel flow rule changes
It was announced earlier on Thursday that the fuel flow limits were adjusted for both BMW and Ducati ahead of the race weekend.
The Step 1 Fuel Flow reduction sees a decrease of 0.5kg/h, meaning Petrucci is amongst the current Ducati crop to be affected by this change.
“I don’t know [the effects] since this is the first step of this changing. Let’s see, for sure at the moment in the first two rounds BMW and the Ducati have the fastest bike,” Petrucci stated.
“I think this is a good point, we have to see because Superbike is really good, we have many different manufacturers that compete in the top five.
“I hope this rules doesn’t affect so much the classification, but yeah we’ll see. I feel good and I feel competitive, we hope to be fast and to have a fast bike during the weekend.”
READ MORE – Fuel flow limits adjusted for BMW and Ducati at Assen WorldSBK round
