Petrucci: Last two races worst of the year

Danilo Petrucci has held up his hands over his poor run of form since the MotoGP summer break and with his third place in the standings under threat the Ducati rider is eager to turnaround his fortunes at Silverstone.

The Italian rider has claimed lowly eighth and ninth place finishes at Brno and the Red Bull Ring respectively, while Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso has taken second place and a victory in that same run, leading to Petrucci calling it his worst sequence of performances this season.

Suzuki’s Alex Rins has cut the deficit down to 12 points in the battle for third place in the MotoGP riders’ world championship which has alerted the Italian during his preparation for the British round at Silverstone.

“For sure the last two races have been my worst ones of the year and so now the aim is to turn a new page as soon as possible and start to demonstrate at Silverstone that we deserve our third place in the championship,” Petrucci said.

Like Ducati team-mate Dovizioso, Petrucci has fond memories at Silverstone having claimed his maiden MotoGP podium at the track in a soaking wet race back in 2015 while competing for Pramac Ducati.

Having not featured on the rostrum since the dramatic Catalan round, Petrucci is eager to make amends at the resurfaced Silverstone after the race was cancelled 12 months ago due to poor weather combining with rain being unable to drain from the track.

“I’ve got some good memories of this circuit, especially for the podium in 2015, and I think that if we stay focussed right from the first session we can be competitive,” he said.

“There’s going to be a lot of competition and the variable weather here in England is always a factor to take into consideration, and it can condition the race. However, I’m determined to score a good result.”