Danilo Petrucci claims maiden Dakar stage win after Toby Price penalty
Danilo Petrucci has become the first former MotoGP rider to claim a Dakar Rally stage win after Australia’s Toby Price was given a six minute time penalty.
Petrucci, who already claimed a first top three during yesterday’s stage four, went one better with second place, however, fellow KTM rider Price was relegated from first to fifth due to speeding.
Despite breaking his ankle during training and nearly missing out on the race due to a false COVID-19 test, Petrucci has been a standout across the five days, even after an electrical issue on stage two resulted in his bike being recovered by helicopter, thus ruling him out of overall contention.
However, with the Italian able to continue, Petrucci was able to once again show his impressive speed as he finished just 4m14s adrift of Price before the penalty was handed out.
Today’s stage had to overcome a brief stoppage at 12:16pm local time because of medical air support being mobilised. The ‘special’ stage was a 365km route that ended in Riyadh.
Following his maiden stage win, Petrucci summed up his emotions with a short message on his social media: "I’m crying like a baby, I cannot write."
The former Ducati and KTM rider will now look to make it two wins in a row during tomorrow’s stage six. The event finishes on January 14th.
Following the Dakar rally, Petrucci is likely to make a decision on his 2022 future which looks to be heading towards MotoAmerica with Ducati as we reported earlier in the day.
