Danilo ‘Petrux’ Petrucci has spoken to the public for the first time since being discharged from hospital following a nasty crash while training on a motocross bike.
We’ve had updates from the former MotoGP racer already, although today was the first time we could hear from the man himself as to how he was doing.
The update came as he has recently, and rather surprisingly given the list of injuries, been allowed to leave the hospital, and he used his Instagram post to thank the staff and medical teams that have been looking after him. The post on his profile reads: "Staying out of the hospital! Thank you so much to all [the] doctors and people who helped me, people who stood beside me…"
The video accompanying the post features Petrux talking to the camera in Italian, and, as any Italian waiter who has encountered me on a motorcycle launch will testify, my Italian is rubbish. Luckily we know a man who can, and he’s have translated the video for us below.
“Hi I'm better and I'm out of the hospital. I feel almost well. As you can see my jaw took quite a beating, I broke it in several places. I also broke my collarbone and scapula, and then a nerve in my jaw was severed, maybe it will fix itself. For now, though, I'll have to smile with my face crooked like this. But I'm happy to be here because first of all, I'm alive.
"While I was falling I wasn't sure I could tell. I am very grateful to the doctors at the Torretta Hospital in Ancona, they put plates and screws on my jaw and did a masterpiece. Now I have more plates and screws in addition to the ones I already had, but I am happy because I am going home.
"I'll have them for a while, but I hope to be in Misano for the SBK. Now I can't eat so maybe for the first time in my life I'll lose weight! It's going to be tough but I'm happy to be here talking to you.”
Visually, Petrucci seems in fairly high spirits, maybe owing to the amount of painkillers in his system, although his speech is obviously affected by the broken jaw. Whether that will heal by itself as he mentions remains to be seen, we are all just hopeful that he can get back to full fitness and out on the track again soon.
This is an updated article originally published on 15 April 2024 - the original article can be viewed below.
Additional reporting by Simon Hancocks
The Dutch Round of the 2024 WorldSBK season will be without Danilo Petrucci, who has been officially ruled out.
Petrucci will not feature on the entry list for the event, which will take place later this week at the TT Assen circuit.
The Barni Spark Ducati rider will be replaced by the Italian rider Nicolas Spinelli, who rode in the Supersport World Championship in the past, and finished second at Phillip Island last year. This year, Spinelli is racing in the MotoE World Championship, in which he won the first race of the season at Portimao. Spinelli also has Supersport experience with Barni, having won the Italian Championship with the team in 2022 on a Ducati Panigale V2.
There is still no specific timeline for Petrucci’s recovery. He is set for surgery on his broken collarbone today (15 April) having already had his broken jaw operated on. After Assen, the next round of the WorldSBK season is in Misano, but not until 14-16 June.
Petrucci was riding at a motocross track in Cingoli, Italy, when, he says, he lost control of his motorcycle and accelerated towards a jump when, instead, he should have been slowing.
It sounds like a classic case of ‘whiskey throttle’ for Petrucci, who described the crash as “one of the scariest of my life,” in an Instagram post published this morning (12 April 2024).
Petrucci’s Instagram post, which used a photo of the Italian in bed at the Torrette di Ancona hospital, detailed some of his injuries, which include a broken collarbone, broken jaw in two places, broken shoulder, and some broken teeth.
Petrucci’s crash came towards the end of WorldSBK’s month-long break between the Catalan Round and the upcoming Dutch Round at the TT Assen circuit which is scheduled for next weekend (19-21 April). With the crash having only occurred on 11 April, no plan for Petrucci’s recovery has yet been laid out, but it seems most likely that he will miss at least next weekend’s Assen race. No race in May for WorldSBK means that Petrucci could be back in action for round four of the series at his home race in Misano on 14-16 June.
Petrucci currently lies sixth in the WorldSBK riders’ standings, and has achieved a best result of third place this season in Race 2 at the Australian Round.
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