Danilo Petrucci without championship targets despite “fairytale” Cremona WorldSBK

Danilo Petrucci’s first victories in the World Superbike Championship propelled him into realistic contention for a top-three position in the overall standings.

The Italian was dominant in all three races at Cremona Circuit last weekend, a venue located in close proximity to the workshop of his Barni Ducati team.

“It feels like a fairytale,” Petrucci told WorldSBK.com following his triple victory at Cremona.

“It’s [Cremona] really our home round because our workshop is just one hour from here, and our team is an independent one.

“We have some small sponsors, really small businesses helping us and today they were all here.

“I think it’s something they deserve because to be in front of the two factory Ducati three times is something that is unbelievable.”

Despite the results at Cremona, which put Petrucci on a six-race podium run after his three podiums from the French Round at Magny-Cours, the Italian is not targeting a climb up the championship standings, despite now being only three points behind fourth-placed Alex Lowes and 31 points behind third-placed Alvaro Bautista.

“After what’s going on this year I didn’t have a look at the championship,” Petrucci said, referring to the motocross crash he suffered in March that saw him miss the Dutch Round with significant injuries.

“We have still three races to go, and for sure Alvaro [Bautista] is the defending champion. He’s really fast, this race was not at 100 per cent [physically].

“It could be a dream to be third in the championship, but it’s not my target this year for sure.

“I will try to be as fast as possible in the next three rounds, but maybe third place in the championship is the target we put for next year.”