Danilo Petrucci Makes Dakar Truck Debut
After becoming a stage winner on two wheels in the Dakar Rally three years ago, Danilo Petrucci has taken to the truck category for the first time
Danilo Petrucci was surprisingly confirmed as part of a three-driver team in the truck category of the Dakar last year, and now the MotoGP and WorldSBK race winner has made his debut.
Competing alongside Claudio Bellina and Marco Arnoletti, Petruci secured a 13th place finish in the prologue last Friday as part of the Iveco MM Technology truck team.
The all-Italian lineup completed the short prologue in 20m02s and finished the event 1m59s behind the fastest team of Mitchel van den Brink, Moises van de Pol, and Jarno Torrallardona who were driving the Iveco for Eurol Rally Sport truck.
Petrucci’s participation in the event is his second after making his Dakar debut in 2022 with KTM as part of the motorcycle category, however, it's his first in the truck category with the Italian fresh off a very successful second season in World Superbike.
A race winner in MotoGP, then MotoAmerica and the Dakar, WorldSBK was missing from his list of success until the Cremona round last season, where Petrucci completed a stunning treble, which was also his first in the series.
Putting the Ducati rider’s impressive hat-trick into perspective, it means he’s the only rider outside of Toprak Razgatliolu and Alvaro Bautista to win all three races at the same round since the start of 2022.
Petrucci’s maiden wins were then backed up by an impressive fifth place finish in the championship standings, which made him the top independent team rider.
Following the prologue, Petrucci and his two teammates started stage one by securing a sixth place finish but have since slipped down to 12th after stage two.
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
