Petrucci “loved, but not respected” in his MotoGP career

Petrucci’s 10-year career in MotoGP is a true rags to riches story, the Italian starting out on the underfunded and woefully off-the-pace Ioda CRT machine in 2012 before eventually getting a factory seat at Ducati in 2019.

The Italian won two races in 2019 and 2020 for Ducati before an unfruitful switch to Tech3 KTM this year, with Petrucci losing his place for 2022.

Petrucci proved to be an immensely popular figure with fans and within the paddock, but thinks he could have perhaps had a longer career in MotoGP had he been less personable.

“During my career in 10 years in MotoGP, but I was already here since my father was working here; I think I joined this paddock for the first time 25 years ago, more or less,” Petrucci said.

“I think that the reason is you cannot be loved and respected at the same time.

“Maybe I’ve been loved, but not respected.

“So, during the years I’ve really worked with a lot of people, I’ve talked to a lot of people and for me crossing through the paddock is really difficult because I say ‘hello’, I stop to talk to a lot of people because I never screamed in the box, or I always took the responsibility.

“When the results were not coming, I always put myself in the spotlight to improve, not yelling or screaming at others trying to find something or some reason for the results.

“I think I had a long career, maybe could have been longer if I started to scream at someone and not take my responsibilities like maybe some other riders do.

“But I never acted [like anything else], I always acted like myself, never tried to do something different here or outside of here.

“But the reason is because you can’t be both loved and respected.”

Danilo Petrucci, KTM Tech3

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Petrucci will race in next year’s Dakar Rally with KTM and Tech3, and has been linked to a ride in MotoAmerica for 2022.

In MotoGP, Tech3 will field and all-new line-up of 2021 Moto2 world champion Remy Gardner and title runner-up Raul Fernandez.

The pair’s time in MotoGP has already gotten off to a frosty start, however, after Fernandez told Autosport’s Spanish language sister website Motorsport.es that he felt he was the “moral champion” of Moto2 and that the Ajo team stood in his way.

When Autosport asked Gardner for a response, he felt Fernandez’s comments were “bullshit”.