Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win, and for Danilo Petrucci and the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team, it was certainly a case of the latter at Brainerd International Raceway.
The 2.5-mile Minnesota venue saw Petrucci suffer a fast crash in qualifying, regrouping to take second in race one behind Yamaha’s then-championship leader, Jake Gagne.
But it was all turned on its side in race two as Gagne, who had built up a potential race-winning lead only to drop the factory Yamaha for another DNF. Petrucci thus swept through for his fourth race win of the 2022 Medallia MotoAmerica Superbike Championship and moved back into the title lead.
It’s now all the play with 150 potential points on offer and three rounds remaining in the series, starting in Pittsburgh in two weeks’ time.
2022 MotoAmerica Superbike Standings
P1 – Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) 253
P2 – Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 240
P3 – Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) 215
P4 – Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha) 183
P5 – Hector Barbera (BMW) 133
Danilo Petrucci (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #9): “It was a weekend of ups and downs,” said Petrucci. “Yesterday was one of the toughest days. We struggled a lot in the race because I crashed quite hard in qualifying and got a few injuries, but today, luck was on our side. Unfortunately, Jake (Gagne) crashed, and we could take the victory. We made a massive change yesterday on the front end, and the bike was working much better. Now we are leading the points, but we are not thinking about the championship. We must stay in front of Jake, or at least put as much pressure as possible on him. Thanks very much to my team.”
- From Ducati Media House
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