Petrucci from MotoGP to Dakar Rally! | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Petrucci from MotoGP to Dakar Rally!

Petrucci 15th (+16min, including a 10min penalty for something on the stage - maybe missing a waypoint) and top rookie on stage 4.
130th overall (+19hr 19min, including 11hr 41min penalties, including from his breakdown)

edit: I think I originally read the Dakar timing site wrong. It's really hard to navigate - har, har!

Petrucci's raw time on stage 4 would have been +6min from the leader, placing him in 3rd on the stage! Adding in the 10 minute penalty is what drops him to 15th on the stage. So he's got some serious speed.
 
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Wow, Petrucci is currently sitting in 2nd (+4min) on Stage 5, and 47th overall (+19hr 11min). I thought he'd do reasonably well, but I didn't really think he'd be fighting in the top 5 on stages.

It looks like 47th overall is the highest he'll get unless people ahead of him withdraw. He's about 14hr behind the guy in 46th.
 

Youtube's auto-translate feature is having a hard time with this one. He had some sort of encounter with a camel (broke his handguard, and deployed the airbag?) and then "went ahead and paved the way with brain shock" (?!). And "it is clear that I have to be careful because in any case when I take the hand (throttle), I am always a little too aggressive".

It also looks like the stage was stopped midway through due to a huge sandstorm.
 
Update: Petrucci gets the Stage 5 win after Toby Price gets a 6min penalty!

 
Lightcycle said:
I've always liked Petrucci, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He was so emotional when he won his first MotoGP race, seems like nothing has changed:
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Yeah, me too. He seems to be a genuinely good natured guy. Unlike some in the paddock he never got a reputation for being careless or taking out other riders.

I watch old MotoGP seasons during the winter and I happen to be on the 2012 season now, where he was slogging it out at the back of the field on a completely outmatched CRT bike. So it's good to see him get some more recognition after all of the years of hard work in MotoGP.
 
Looks like he won the stage by 2 seconds!

If he hadn't had that mechanical failure, he'd be in the top 20 if not top 10.
 
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Petrucci 40th (+12min) in Stage 6 after a crash.

He's now listed as 116th overall (+19hr 21min). During Stage 5 he was briefly listed as being 47th overall, but I assume that they threw out the overall results from Stage 5 when they cancelled it partway through due to weather, because over half the field didn't finish. As before, he's still 4hrs behind the guy in 115th, so the only way he'll improve in the overall is by attrition from the guys ahead of him.
 
The Dakar website really isn't the greatest for figuring out what is going on. I assume they're using the Tweeter or Facebork or something for updates, but I don't follow any of that.

Here's something posted on Advrider, a translation of something posted on Petrucci's FB:
Yesterday I won so today I had to start first, on the same track that yesterday did cars and trucks, so hundreds of 4x4 with hundreds horsepower. Everything was completely destroyed with stones hidden in the dust. At km3 I found a step in the middle of the sand when I was going at 100 km/h more or less, it did send me to the moon. I restarted but I was not really focused. Rider started after me @rossbranchbw did the same but he has broken his leg. Fortunately at that moment we got the helicopter above us that landed and sent the rider in an other route. We arrived at km160 in nine riders when they told us the race was cancelled for safety. I’m doing good, only some stitches on my arm.
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Some great quotes from him on his Stage 5 win:
the-race.com

Inside MotoGP exile Petrucci's record-breaking Dakar start - The Race

KTM rider Danilo Petrucci is thriving on his first step after his MotoGP exit, with a stage win on the fifth day of his Dakar Rally debut.
the-race.com the-race.com

“I was so, so lucky not to get injured in my first crash,” he said “I wanted to kill the camel that I found after a corner. I wanted to kill him but here they consider the camels more important than women so I think I would have had some problems with it. Camels are quite big! I must tell you, I imagined that they were smaller, but they’re not!
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:ROFLMAO:
 
Stage 6 for the bikes was run on the course that the cars and trucks ran the previous day, so the course was chewed up badly from the bigger vehicles. They stopped the race after 100km, likely because all of the medical helicopters were occupied with crashed and injured riders.

 
I've never really followed Dakar, but following it through the lens of Petrucci shows what a grind it can be, and this is a guy that has factory support! Imagine all the privateers.
 
Chaos said:
I've never really followed Dakar, but following it through the lens of Petrucci shows what a grind it can be, and this is a guy that has factory support! Imagine all the privateers.
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Totally. The last time I watched the Dakar rally was the Coma years, but with such a recognizable name (and such a likeable guy as well) participating, that's renewed my interest. The camera work is a lot more stunning these days as well. Those shots of the vehicles zooming through the Saudi desert are heart-stopping.

Makes me totally want to ride in the sand as well.

Until I realize I suck at riding sand...
 
Chaos said:
www.visordown.com

Danilo Petrucci wants Dakar return… but is KTM affair coming to bitter end?

Danilo Petrucci airs his frustrations with his unreliable KTM machinery as he nears the end of the 2022 Dakar Rally... and his time with the Austrian firm
www.visordown.com www.visordown.com
Click to expand...

During his first electrical breakdown, I wondered if maybe he didn't have the experience to diagnose and fix the problem himself in the field. If I was to guess, I'd expect he's more used to pitting, getting off the bike and telling his techs what to tweak/fix, then getting out on the bike again, rinse and repeat.

A lot of the rally racers have extensive mechanical experience. You need to, especially if you're racing in such harsh conditions. And to top it off, KTM has an excellent reputation for both performance... and unreliability. If you're racing a KTM, you definitely need to be a mechanic.

It ain't no Honda...
 
Yes, agree. KTM high-tunes all their bikes, loads them up with top-tech, without a lot of thought for much else. It's all good when it works, but a horror show if it breaks down and you're not familiar with the tech. Computer electronics are vulnerable to vibrations, heat etc. in my experience. The Germans and the Austrians just seem to have a damn-the-torpedoes attitude toward embracing tech. I bet Petrucci is not with KTM next time.

As for Dakar, it seems to have gone the glam route in past years. Once a race for amateurs the big guys with money have stolen the spotlight. Almost looks like a Mad Max movie with these ridiculous 4-wheel vehicles flipping over on dunes. The publicity is good, but I would like to see more effort made at video coverage via drone, trail cam etc. Otherwise, it's always an exciting watch.
 
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