Danilo Petrucci is reported to have been offered the option to replace Alex Rins at LCR Honda for this weekend’s German Grand Prix but has eventually turned it down after taking Enea Bastianini’s seat in the French MotoGP last month.
Rins injured his leg in a crash at the Mugello sprint race, keeping him out of MotoGP action until after the summer break.
Honda had a terrible start to 2023 made worse by the fact that Marc Marquez crashed during the main race on Sunday, as his Repsol Honda teammate Joan Mir was also ruled out of action following Friday’s practice incident.
Lucio Cecchinello, the CEO of LCR Honda turned to Petrucci who had been racing in MotoGP just two rounds earlier, as a replacement for Rins.
Despite the fact that his most recent WorldSBK race at Misano was his fastest until date in terms of pace, Petrucci has been back in WorldSBK action since the French Grand Prix and turned down Honda’s offer as a result of injuries suffered during Misano race.
According to GPOne.com, Alberto Vergani who is Petrucci’s manager, said he appreciates Lucio’s offer because he’s without a doubt one of the top managers in the paddock but Danilo is still recovering from his serious Misano injury.
“Even if his situation is slowly improving, he’s still not 100% in shape,” Vergani said. “Petrucci, therefore, prefers not to take risks and has the aim of recovering as best as possible for Donington.”
It is not surprising that Petrucci is currently focusing on his recovery in order to be ready for the British round as Donington Park is in just two weeks.
