Italian riders believe it would be “useful” to replace the only rider who has achieved a dry weather victory for The Factory BMW team since 2019, something “useful” for Danilo Petrucci.
Petrucci was announced as a BMW rider for the World Superbike from the 2026 season during summer vacation. News that continues months after the announcement of Toprak Razgatlioglu, who will join Yamaha for the 2026 MOTOGP campaign.
With four rounds and therefore 12 rounds remaining in the 2025 WorldSBK season, 73 race winners and current championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu was able to finish the year with over 80 World Superbike wins and three titles.
For Petrucci, who has won five World SBK and MotoGP World Championship levels, the prospect of replacing Razgatlioglu is pressure-provoking, but this isn’t necessarily something he regrets.
“I’m already feeling pressured, but it keeps me alive and especially the right tension to do it,” Danilo Petrucci told WorldSBK.com on Thursday ahead of the 2025 French round when asked if he felt pressure to replace riders like the Razgatriogle.
“When you want to stay on top, you always need to work well, and you get me faster and I get faster.
“It’s really convenient when I ride a bike, so putting pressure on my shoulders is good for me.”
Razgatlioglu supports BMW’s decision on Petrucci, a Turkish rider who agreed to Italian when the Bavarian brand expressed his opinion on a potential successor.
“We sometimes talked with the (BMW) team about the technical aspects,” Petrucci said.
“They said they asked Toprack, who are probably free riders and who especially like to brake hard and stop their bikes hard.
“He said I was one of the possibilities.
“I would like to thank all the BMW technicians who helped me make the decision.
“Suppose that was a difficult choice, but after these technical meetings I had a clear idea about my future and decided to take part in this adventure.
“It’s a huge pride for me, and taking a seat at the top rack in particular is really challenging.”
The move to BMW is Petrucci’s first at Worldsbk, joining Barni in 2023.
Italian history with the Ducati satellite team is even more extended than the superbike, just like Barni, where Petrucci competed for the Superstock class before moving to Motogupo.
It is a history of making the transition to a factory BMW team a difficult decision.
“Next year will be my fourth season of superbikes around the world, and this was my target: joining the factory team,” Petrucci said.
“On the one hand I’m really happy. With the other hand, leaving Barni’s race was a tough choice.
“So it was tough, especially since we got to a lot of positive things.”
Petrucci added that he will also focus on the rest of the 2025 season. He currently ranks third in the championship, but has only 15 points on hand with Andrea Rocatelli.
“Even so, the (2025) Championship is not over. I’m really happy next year, but I’m playing third in the championship, so I’m really focused this year. I sincerely want to finish here,” he said.
“So, a lot of things, I have had a lot of training this summer.