MotoAmerica: ‘We needed to get to Danilo Petrucci more quickly’

Moments after being credited with third place at the chequered flag of race two, Petrucci fell at 280 km/h, causing "one of the worst" accidents of his career and leaving the Italian with "multiple burns, hematomas and a deep cut on the ankle".

But it was the Italian’s claim that he had been "lying down for over two minutes with no assistance, hearing the bikes pass next to me, 'till I [stood] up by myself and went alone to the medical center” that was most shocking.

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TV footage (below) appeared to show Petrucci walking from the unseen accident around one-minute after the finish, but the exact sequence of events and when he first received any medical assistance was still far from clear.

As such, MotoAmerica organisers held meetings to determine the facts of the accident on Tuesday, after which the following statement was issued:

‘On Sunday afternoon at VIR, there was an accident at the end of the Medallia Superbike race in which Danilo Petrucci crashed after crossing the finish line in third place.

‘Unfortunately, the crash itself occurred off camera. Race Direction witnessed the end of the crash and immediately acted. As appropriate, a yellow caution flag was deployed.

‘By this time, eighth-place finisher Ashton Yates had crossed the finish line, 27 seconds behind Petrucci. Roughly 17 seconds later, race direction could see that Petrucci was on his feet and appeared to be not seriously injured.

‘Although Petrucci’s crash occurred in a fast section of the racetrack, it’s also an area with the most run-off of any track at which MotoAmerica rounds are held. A sliding Petrucci also struck a single lightweight sponsor sign that consequently gave way as it is designed to do.

‘Petrucci was up and continued walking and stood trackside until he deemed it was safe to walk across the track. He was then met by MotoAmerica staff and escorted in a vehicle to the trackside Medical Center, which was some 200 yards from the site of the incident.

‘At that point, roughly three minutes had passed, and Petrucci was treated for his injuries.

“Attention to detail is paramount when it comes to safety and the safety of our riders is our number-one priority,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “That’s where we start, and our process goes forward from there. In MotoAmerica’s eight years of racing, we have never neglected a rider who was injured.

“I have nothing but respect for Danilo (Petrucci) and his safety and the safety of all our riders is of the utmost importance. We will never minimize a rider’s injury nor their views of the incident that took place. We needed to get to Danilo more quickly and we will study the incident and will make changes where necessary.

“The situation was made even more difficult in that, although the crash was after the checkered flag, the track was still hot with riders still at speed and thus mobilizing workers becomes more difficult.

“Additionally, Race Direction places a lot of emphasis on what they witness of a rider’s actions following an incident. Petrucci was standing and walking under his own power and that quickly lessens the severity of the response.

“We hope Danilo’s injuries are healing and he’s feeling better. And we look forward to seeing him at Road America.”

Forced out of MotoGP at the end of last season, Petrucci made history as a Dakar stage winner before starting another new adventure in the MotoAmerica Superbike class for the 2022 season.

The Italian made a dream start to his US career on familiar ground at COTA, then made it three wins in a row in the opening race at Road Atlanta. However, the Italian was left seething when a power-cut delay just before race two contributed to his bike blowing up:

“Just embarrassing what happened today. In 25 years of racing I’ve never seen that they stop the race because the circuit cameras have no power. We stand on the various starting grids more than 5 minutes and our engine blew off because the water was boiling.”

Round three at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) began with a fourth place before the dramatic conclusion to race two saw Petrucci classified a close third across the line, then crash at high speed from his Panigale V4 R.

“I crashed at 280 km/h under the finish line that’s on a sixth gear corner for avoid touching another rider,” Petrucci wrote on social media. “I hit three sponsors signs with my body, multiple burns, multiple hematomas and a deep cut on the ankle with five stitches.

“I rolled for over 100 meters, maybe one of the worst crash of my entire career. And I lying down for over two minutes with no assistance, hearing the bikes passes next to me, till I stand up by myself and went alone to the medical center.”

The double MotoGP race winner currently leads the MotoAmerica championship standings by four points from Mathew Scholz, with reigning champion Jake Gagne in third.